Of fire and Orks
by CurseofGladstone
Summary: Forge world Graia is the middle of an all out ork Waaaghhh, the planetary defense forces are overrun but can the appearance of a teenage boy change the outcome of the battle for the planet. And what are the mysteries behind his sudden appearance?
1. Chapter 1

This my first attempt at a Warhammer 40k fan fiction so please excuse me if I make some mistakes about the 40k lore.

Also please know that I'm not the best at writing stories so any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Also If you have an idea for an OC that will also be greatly appreciated. Just be reasonable with them. Also please don't stop at reading the first chapter.

(Authors note. This is the second version of this chapter as I realised how many inconsistencies there were)

Forge world Gaia. Upon arriving at the planet the orks quickly massacred the planetary defence forces and captured the defence weapons preventing any resupplies or reinforcements. The situation is truly bleak as is often the case in the 41st millennium. Now only the men and women of the 217th cadian regiment remain to defend against the masses. But this is not their story. It is the story of another. A man who will influence the battle for the planet, who will change the outcome of many wars in the future, who is this person? You will soon find out.

The noise was deafening on the front lines as the last few remaining men were emptying their lasguns into the charging enemies hordes, having drained many power packs in a vain attempt to push them back. It was working for now, but the lasguns were overheating and battery power was soon going to run out. By now everyone was down to their last power packs.

Another dozen ork boys came into view, clad in the thick leather and scrap metal they usually wear and armed with massive shooters and choppers.

The line of exhausted guardsmen opened fire into them, each shot vaporising massive chunks of them, some tearing limbs off. They were exhausted. For days they had been fighting and it was showing. Barely any shots were to the head and many missed entirely, it was due to this that they were quickly running out of battery packs.

But they weren't the only ones scoring the hits. The Orks fired back wildly at them, the thick ferrocrete barricades the guardsmen took cover behind stopping most of the rounds but two unlucky guardsmen were not so lucky. The ridiculously high calibre weapons tore massive holes in their heads, completely ignoring their standard issue flak helmets.

The Orks soon fell under a volley of lasgun fire but it was only a matter of time till the next wave came, and the inevitable had happened.

"Damn it," Came the voice of a panicked guardsman. "I'm out," he sunk back down behind the barricades trembling holding his weapon.

"Xenos scum," His comrade yelled, "I'm not going down like this," he roared in anger, "we need more ammo damn it, John! Get back to base now, tell them we need more ammo! We're sitting ducks out here"

John could only nod, dropping his expended lasgun. He poked his head around the side of the barricade and immediately jumped back as a bullet flew past his head missing by an inch. "I need cover fire!" He yelled.

Four more Orks had appeared and came charging the same as the first group, their weapons leaving no chance for him to make the run.

The commander quickly spoke up "alright, everyone on three, give it everything you've got! John you've got three minutes go get the ammo. You had better be back or I'll kill you myself!"

Fear filled the face of everyone there, they knew it was unlikely they would hold out even that long it was a miracle they had lasted this long but their luck seemed to have run out.

"One" Guns were raised, "Two," shaking limbs got ready to rise, "three!" All at once everyone raised their weapons and laid down a barrage of lasfire. John sprinted towards the heavy steel door, quickly tapping away at the control panel opening it by a small amount, just enough to squeeze through. John pushed himself through and closed the gap behind him.

"I hope he gets back here soon" Said one young man. This was his first time in war and he was close to breaking down.

"I hope so too Max," Said the captain. His face was grim and withdrawn. He turned back to face the enemy and instantly his face fell yet further "Oh dear god."

Over the hill in the distance came the biggest horde of Orks they had seen all day. There must have been a hundred of them, and worse still there were several Nobz clad in thick metal plates. Everyone's face fell into despair , they knew they would not survive this encounter, whether there comrade got the batteries or not.

"Men it's been an honour serving with you." came the sullen voice of the commander. he drew his sword and stood up, "for the Emperor!" He yelled, the battle cry being carried by the rest of the men...

Over the next few minutes more power cells were depleted and John still hadn't come back. The same though filled everyone's mind, did he abandon us? He should be back by now. But he wasn't. What was holding him up? They were out of power and on their own, with the Orks getting closer and closer. They braced themselves to fight.

"What the hell?" said Max. Everyone turned towards him and stared in shock at what they were seeing. Blue lightening had started crackling behind him pulsing and frying the ground beneath it, the pulsing got faster and brighter. Even the Orks had stopped to look at what was happening.

The pulsing became incredibly bright and just as it was becoming unbearably hot, simmered down and disappeared and in its place was a boy, not an ork boy but a human child, no older than fifteen.

"What the Fuck?" mouthed the commander.

 _(AN) Just made some corrections to this chapters I have heard that someone has complained about its bad grammar. Just to let it be clear I am new at writing stories and my grammar is obviously not the best. So if you see a lot of mistakes. PLEASE TELL ME. I will do my best to correct them in due time. CurseofGladstone out_


	2. Chapter 2 Acceptance

Chapter two

What the hell just happened?

The Nob roared in challenge knocked everyone back to why they were there.

(enter first person. Perspective, random boy who has just appeared)

uuurrrgghh. My whole body was shaking. What the hell just happened. My whole body felt like I had been hit by a train. The last thing I could remember was.. was... I can't remember. I can't remember anything! I started to panic. Where the hell was I anyway? I looked around to see a bunch of maybe half a dozen soldiers firing into something, I couldn't see from here but from the roaring I could tell that it wasn't something human and it was very angry.

I struggled to my feet to see what was going on, my vision slowly rising above the barricades. Green hulking monstrosities were charging towards the line. The soldiers seemed to be firing lasers at them. But they weren't harmless like I thought lasers would be. I paused, how did I know what lasers were? Regardless they seemed to be pretty effective at killing, they were incinerating chunks of flesh! Although they seemed to have little effect on the metal armor a particularly big monster was wearing, they also carried massive guns firing wildly us. 'Oh crap' I realized 'they're shooting at us'

A stray bullet flew past me, making a shallow cut in my cheek as it skimmed by, a thin line of blood seeping out and dripping down my cheek . I paused and raised a hand to me cheek, pulling it back to see it covered in blood, I froze, too in shock to feel the pain.

Suddenly a few of the beasts broke through the lines and jumped over the barricades with the soldiers quickly stepping back the big one coming straight for me as well as several others charging behind it. My body froze with terror. There was nothing I could do. I screamed in terror and raised my hands.

Warmth quickly spread from my chest and town my arms into my hands before a bright light engulfed my vision stopping after less than a second. My body somehow felt worse than before and I collapsed to my knees. I felt like I had just pulled an all nighter and then got hit by a bus.

A second past, then another. I wasn't dead? how? that beast was about to hit me with its axe. Hesitantly I opened my eyes to see cold, mad eyes looked back at me from the floor. A look of surprise and confusion plastering its face. through exhaustion I scooted back. It wasn't moving. My vision shifted down. There was a massive body lying dead. A wide hole melted through its chest, as well as several of the beasts behind it. My legs began to shake. Did I do that? My body gave way and I collapsed to the ground.

The big door behind me opened slightly and a man carrying a crate ran out only to drop it in shock when he saw me. Who the hell was he?

That was the last thing I saw before my head started to spin and I slumped to the ground.

My head pounded as I once again came to. I was lying on my back in a room, It appeared to be made out of metal or anything grayish I guess since my vision was still blurred. My ears were ringing a little too. Oh and my body still felt like I had been hit by a truck. I tried to move my arms, only to find that they were cuffed in front of me.

"why are we even here? He's just a kid?" Turning my head to the side I could see that I wasn't alone in the room.

"You heard what the commander said he did. He's a psyker. For all we know he could summon daemons or something."

The four soldiers stood at the side of the room. They looked just like the ones I had seen not that long ago, with the same uniform and the same looking apparently laser based weapon. How long had I been unconscious for anyway? Was it an hour or days? That, I had no way of knowing.

"He's awake." My head snapped back to one of the men in the corner who had raised what appeared to be a radio and was speaking into it. Likely to the person in command, wherever that person may be.

I could just make out mumbling coming from the radio but my head was still to fuzzy to make out what was said. What was going to happen to me now? Would they kill me?

"Get up, you're coming to the lieutenant don't try to resist or we will kill you." Said the man carrying the radio. He gestured to two of the larger men who slung their weapons over their shoulders before quickly striding towards me and grabbed my aching body, roughly pulling me up. My arms were jolted and pain shot through them. Would it kill them to be more gentle! I can barely move!

They dragged me through a series of wide corridors, all of which seemed to be made of the same metal the room I woke up in was and were filled with crates as well as a lot more soldiers running around. Is this a bunker, or a military base of some kind? It seemed more than likely given the battle that was occurring when I first woke up.

After what felt like hours we reached what looked like a command room. There were over a dozen people in front of computers giving orders into a microphone. The soldiers continued to dragon me forwards before dumping me into a chair, strong arms pinning me in place.

"This is him lieutenant." Said one of the men holding me.

I looked up to see standing In the middle of the room was the authorities person who had summoned me. She barked out a few more orders before turning and walking towards me. I was surprised to see that It was a women, I didn't think that women were that common in the army. Then again looking back, two of the people in that first group I saw may have been women. Or was I imagining it?

The lieutenant took several strides towards me before coming to a stop, standing about a meter away from me.

"I am lieutenant Mira of the 217th Cadian regiment, and I want to know who the hell you are!"

Damn that voice was scary. It made coming up with an answer even harder.

"I don't know," I just managed to groan out, "the first thing I can remember is waking up in that battle." I just hoped she would accept it, I had literally nothing to tell her.

"So you have no idea how you got here? So can you tell me anything at all or are you just fooling around because I swear If you are lying I will force the truth out of you! And what about those abilities you used. You are obviously a psyker."

Oh god, what the hell do I do? I started to panic.

"I swear that I know nothing at all, I don't know where the hell I am or even who I am, and what the hell Is a psyker!?" The look on her face was one of both confusion and anger. I really hope that I didn't go too far.

She closed the distance between us before grabbing my hair and yanking my head up. For several seconds she stared into my eyes. My heart was beating faster and faster by this point.

After what felt like an eternity later, she closed her eyes for a second and sighed. She let go of my hair and stood up straight.

"He's telling the truth." She said to the others. They all looked as surprised as she was.

I let out a sigh of relief. At least I wasn't going to be tortured.

"Um lieutenant" Said one of the men.

I looked at her face and saw that she was deep in thought. What was she thinking now?

"Protocol dictates that I should just kill you." I froze. Why? what have I done... "But" My head shot up and I looked at her. "The situation Is apocalyptic right now and Emperor forbid we need every fighter we can get our hands on. And If working with a unregulated psyker Is going to help us then so be it. I'm not going to let my men die because I gave up a chance of survival." She was staring right at me now. "So I am going to give you a choice, either you fight with us as a guardsman and get food and a chance of survival... Or I kill you right here and now. You're choice. Think wisely."

What kind of a messed up choice was that? Then again I saw how scared the men were. I should help them right? It's not like I'm just going to abandon them? It just felt wrong even if I was threatened by them. Maybe I will get some answers? Quite frankly there was only one way I could answer.

"I'll do it, it's not like I have much choice. But I'm going to need to know some things." The lieutenant nodded in response. "What the hell were those things out there?"

"They are Orks. Brutal creatures that live only for war. They relish in the suffering of others and have no sense of morality," she paused to take a breath "they are a massive threat to the whole Imperium of man."

The hell was the Imperium of man? I didn't ask, she wanted me in battle and I didn't want to test her patience.

"I have no other questions for now." that last question only created another one, I could probably be here all day If I kept asking.

She nodded before addressing the other men. "Get him to the barracks. He needs to get in uniform."

 _Big thank you to anyone who has read my story so far. I promise that I will update by the end of next week._

 _Also please leave a comment on what you think so far. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Even if it is just pointing out a mistake._

 _Until then goodbye. CurseofGladstone out._


	3. Chapter 3 hold the line

Wow 150 views? Thank you everyone who has read my story. Once again I please ask that you give the 30 seconds needed to write a review. Constructive criticism is appreciated as well as any ideas for plot or OCs. I hope to see my story continue through to the end. Also thank you too my 3 followers. Thank you for giving my story a chance.

Now onto the story.

Chapter 3

Why won't you burn!

"So let me get this straight. 90% of people are sent into battle using a weapon that creates powerful lasers, correct?" This was just the first of a long line of questions I wanted to ask people. I found quite a few major flaws in the way this 'imperium of man' does things. And it really annoys me. I just don't want to risk straight up insulting everyone by saying all the problems I found with my new home. I doubt that I would last very long if I did.

"Yeah. But they are pretty effective. A well placed shot can blow and Orks arm off. If you're lucky a single headshot can kill a normal one. I don't see why you have a problem with it?" He answered oblivious to what I was thinking.

"Ok so they are great against flesh, good to know, but they are still lasers. Anything shiny will dramatically reduce their effect. Things that are shiny include metal, mirrors, or just about anything polished. Also metal takes a lot of heat to melt anyway so its effect is reduced even more!" It seemed so obvious to me yet the entire universe hasn't thought of it!

"You're not the first person to say that" He replied.

'Ok what? That's weird...'

"Really?"

"Yeah of course. Sure they aren't that effective against metal but luckily most enemies don't even have armour. And those few races that do have it standard issue are much less common. Also their battery packs can last a good hundred shots each making them great for prolonged combat." He paused for a moment. "Also because they're cheap to produce. Better more effective weapons such as plasma weapons are a hell of a lot more expensive to make so they won't give them to low ranked guardsmen like us"

At least that made sense now. Even if it was a pain. "Anyway. The only other problem that I have found is that the user tends to have damaged eyesight after a year of so. Doesn't really matter since that's only if you are in combat often and even then few survive that long!" That didn't sit well with me "Enough talking about that. Here is your lasgun. Don't know why you need one given what I heard you did but ah well."

"What do you mean? I barely did anything." 'the hell?' I thought

"From what I heard you killed fifty Orks in one blow!" He exclaimed.

I sweat dropped. "Um I'm not sure where you heard that. I killed like 3." I'm not sure if he heard me.

"Anyway. Here is your flak armour. Hope it fits, tough luck if it doesn't!" He handed me heavy chest piece. It was quite heavy in my hand but at least it seemed pretty sturdy. Not sure if it would stop a shot from one of those massive Ork weapons though.

With his help I was able to get the vest on. Luckily it seemed to fit well. I think he was joking about it being tough luck if it didn't fit though. Considering how many of these things are likely produced. It probably wasn't hard to find one in my size.

"Now your battery packs. Unfortunately due to our supply ships being cut off I can only give you three of these. don't worry though. Each pack will last for a good hundred shots. Just be sure not to miss too much. It can go faster than you think."

We quickly finished going over the rest of the gear. A combat knife, a grenade and a load of field rations, which looked like cheap jelly and probably didn't taste even that good.

Eventually we were done and were now just waiting on him getting his orders from command to see where we were to go. He didn't tell me if that would take a minute or an hour. Luckily or unluckily depending on how you looked at it. The order came quickly.

"Ok listen up, we have been order to go to sector 2 on the east side of the base. looks like you've been assigned to the group you were first with. They probably want you to be with someone who has already seem your abilities." He paused for a moment. "Anyway. You'd better follow me. It will take a few minutes to get there and they'd appreciate having help arrive sooner than later."

He led me through the base through the same looking hallways that were common in the base. It was getting pretty boring by now.

After a few minutes of walking we made it to a heavy metal door. Standing by it were two people, both of which seemed to be injured in quite a painful manor. Having an arm or removed probably hurt a lot. Probably why they were in here working the door instead of out there fighting. Hard to fight with an arm missing.

My guide whom I now realised I had not asked the name of addressed the two men before turning to me.

"They will open the door for a few seconds. Once it is open get out fast and get into cover or you won't last long. Listen to what the others are saying as well. Especially the commander. He has been doing this a long time. Trust him."

The door began to groan and edge open. gunfire and yelling were now audible from beyond the opening.

"On my mark go. Hold the line and do the Emperor proud ok. Three, Two, One, GO!"

I sprinted out of the door and immediately dived behind the nearest solid barricades I could see. The noise was deafening but I guess I would just have to get used to it. The sun on me was nice though. I felt rejuvenated by it. But I guess that was because I had been inside for ages.

"Glad you could join us." Over to my right were the men and women I had seen yesterday. All firing their lasguns into a few stray Orks sprinting towards us. They were quickly taken down by lasers though.

I took the opportunity to move into a better position besides the others and raised my lasgun, pressing it into my left shoulder and looking down its scope.

"you ever used that before." The guy next to me asked.

"Nope. At least I don't think so. Although I think I might have used something similar in the past, I just can't remember when..." I said looking up.

"Well I hope you can aim. Looks like there's two more coming into view" He pointed towards a spot on the horizon where two shapes were coming into view.

I looked down the scope of my rifle again and sure enough I could see the charging form of two Orks. Still at least 100m away. I slowed my breathing and fired the first shot.

"Huh not bad." That shot had hit the ork in its right shoulder, causing its arm to be torn off in a cloud of steam and blood.

I took aim again and much quicker this time fired again. This time the beam went straight into the Orks eye, blowing its head out and causing melted brain to pour from the hole.

"Holy shit that was a good shot" Said someone to my right.

I fired three more times to take out the last Ork, one hitting its, arm, one its chest and the last its head. Damn it felt good.

"Not bad at all guardsman" came a voice to my right.

I looked and saw that it was the commander who was speaking to me. He seemed impressed, which I thought was a good sign.

"What's you name son?" He said.

Well shite. "Don't know sir. I can't remember anything before yesterday." I replied.

"No name. You serious?" I nodded.

"Alright well we can't have that. I like to get to know those under my command and I really don't want to call you guardsman all the time. So lads. Anyone got any ideas. I'd rather not have to come up with something to call you myself. I don't think you'd like it" He said turning to the others.

The others seemed to take this as a time to blurt out anything they think would be a good name. It seems that anything to take their mind off of combat was a blessing.

"John!" "That's your name you dolt." "Fred" "Bill" "Gertrude." Everyone paused at that last one.

"Seriously." Now it was one of the Women who spoke up. "Is that even a name? How about Luke?" I just shrugged.

"Suits me just fine." Luke it was then. It felt nice to have some form of identity now. "And your names? you know mine now but I know none of you. Except you John." I said.

"Wendy" Said the Women who spoke up. She looked like she was in her early twenties. She had long hair that was tied back and had the same standard gear the others had.

The others then took their turn to speak up.

"Max" He was tall and muscular with dark, short cut hair. "Best shot In the imperium!" He bragged.

The others just laughed. "Last I saw you tend to miss anything smaller than a tank." Wendy joked

"John."

"HE KNOWS ALREADY!" Came the voice of everyone.

"Mark." He seem a lot smaller than Max but no less muscular.. With slightly longer blondish hair.

"Kevin." Said the last man who seemed to be not that much older than I was. He was also much more scrawny than the others. He was likely a new recruit or something.

"Alice" Said the other Women. She seemed to be in her forties and was pretty buff surprisingly.

"Well it's nice to meet you guys" I said smiling.

"OYE!" Yelled the commander. "If you lot are done talking we have hostiles incoming, and a lot of them as it turns out."

I looked back towards the horizon and down my scope. More than twenty Orks were charging now. Several of which seemed to be wearing metal armour.

"This isn't good." Said Kevin looking down his scope.

"We have to take out the enamoured ones quickly they are faster and will get here first. Then We need a lot of concentrated fire to bring the slower armoured ones down." Said the commander quickly. He had obviously dealt with this sort of thing before. "Open fire!"

The entire group started firing. Some much quicker than others. I myself took slow precise shots. Almost all of which managed to land a hit on the bodies of the charging Orks.

They went down one by one but they had closed most of the distance between us until there was only a hundred feet between us. It would be mere seconds before they got to our places and we still hadn't taken out the armoured ones. It was going to be close.

"Quickly focus fire!" Yelled the commander, roaring over the sound of the Orks.

All six soldiers as well as myself took fire at the nearest armoured Orks armoured head. The individual shots turned a small area red hot and together they melted through the thick metal plating and began searing the flesh and bone beneath, soon vaporising it and causing the ork to fall head first into the ground, carried by its momentum.

The other Ork broke through the lines and jumped over the barricade, swinging the massive axe it was carrying at the others. John who was standing too close took a glancing shot to his chest. Luckily his flak armour redirected the axe so it didn't go into his chest, but the armour had a massive gash in it and the power of the swing caused him to fly back. Hitting his head on the edge of the barrier, knocking him out instantly. He looked like he was still breathing though.

The ork roared again and charged the others who were trying to get a shot off without the laser reflecting back into them.

If I didn't do something the others would die quickly. I looked down at my hands. 'before I passed out yesterday I killed those Orks. Could I do it again?'

The commander had drawn his knife and was darting around the ork trying to find an opening in its armour. He managed to get a few slashes through gaps butt this only seemed to anger the ork more.

'When that ork attacked me I felt warmth spread through my chest and down my arms. Could I repeat that?

The ork annoyed at not being able to hit the nimble commander with its heavy axe let out another large roar before charging at the others.

'Now or never' I though before charging forwards. I focused on the feeling spreading down my arms a pushed on it, the feeling getting stronger and stronger.

"Out of the way!" I screamed. Luckily the other heard me and dived out of the way. I pulled my hands back. A bright light forming between them before pushing it forward, just as the ork reached me. My vision filled with the bright light and I flew back as I felt the Ork smash into me.

"Holly shit" Said Alice.

My body felt like shit again but I just about managed to raise my head to see what was there.

Lying on the ground half on top of me was the body of the ork. With a fist sized hole through its armour and chest. Molten metal pouring onto the ground. It was dead. That shot blew its heart out and vaporised every other organ near it.

"Uugghh" I groaned as I tried to pull myself up from under it. Mark and Max shouldered their weapons and ran over to me. Each of them grabbed one of my arms and helped pull me to my feet.

"That was awesome" Said Max with a big grin plastered on his face. "You really are a psyker."

"I feel like I just got run over by a tank." I managed to say. My body really did feel like it was going to fail but at least I didn't pass out like last time.

The sunlight beat down heavily on my now, filling my body with warmth and easing some of the exhaustion I was feeling, keeping me awake. I felt like I could stand here all day but the commander had other ideas.

"So that's what you did before" He said looking thoughtfully. He stared down at the ork that had now begun to cool off. "Looks just like a shot from a plasma gun..." I got the feeling that that was a big deal.

"Damn" Said Kevin coming up beside him. He looked impressed.

I looked at the body for a few more seconds before a thought came to me.

"I get the feeling that we are forgetting someone." The others froze at that.

"Oh shit we forgot about John didn't we!" We went over to where john was just beginning to stir. Mark and Max still helping me.

"So" John slurred. "What did I miss?"

 _Thank you to xforces5 for commenting on my story and thank you to everyone who has read it as well. Next chapter should be up by the end of the week again or a few days after. Until then thank you all and remember to follow and comment on this story to see It grow till the end. CurseofGladstone out._


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you for over 300 views! Hitting personal records here. Also thank you to xforces5 for another comment. I was thinking about doing something similar to what you suggested after this arc of the story is over, but one thing at a time._

 _Don't forget to favourite and follow to keep up with the latest chapters as well as leave a comment with suggestions. All will be appreciated._

 _With everything said and done. On to the story._

Chapter 4

I think my ears are bleeding.

The next few hours were hell. More Orks were arriving every second and the power packs in the lasguns were beginning to get low again. Moral was beginning to fade. I had also been forced to use my powers several more times. Each shot being weaker than the last. The only positive being that they were spread out over those few hours. Not that It helped much.

"Damn it" Yelled John. A bullet taking a small chunk out of his arm. He collapsed behind the barrier and clutched the bleeding limb.

"We got another dozen approaching fast." Said the commander. Exhaustion was beginning to show on his face.

I looked down my scope and continued to fire at the Orks. By now I was losing focus, the majority of my shots missing vital areas or missing altogether. We needed reinforcements fast!

"Not sure how much longer we can keep this up for" yelled Alice as she shot the closest ork in the head.

I continued to fire my lasgun striking down another two Orks before the inevitable happened. My weapon spluttered one last puny shot before dying. That was my last power pack.

"Damn it" I yelled taking cover. There wasn't much I could do now. All I had left to fight with was a large knife I had been given. Somehow I didn't think I would last very long against something twice my size.

I felt kind of useless right now. I had my powers sure, but I needed to save my strength for when an armoured ork inevitably came.

Next to me the commander started talking into his radio. Likely requesting a resupply.

"Alright listen up, we have help coming but it's going to be a while. At least twenty minutes, we need to hold out until then." He yelled.

Twenty minutes was a long time, much too long to survive without the power packs our weapons needed to work. I needed to do something right now but I had nothing. I looked around the area. Behind me was the metal door that led to the base. The sealed door that wouldn't open without command from high up.

"Luke! Get here, we got an armoured one incoming. Its 200 yards out."

I ran back to the barricade and raised my arms in front of me. Feeling the warmth slowly spread down my arms.

In the distance another armoured ork was charging. I push the warmth into my hand and slowly a light began to form between them., I began to sweat as I pushed more energy into it, the light slowly turning from a dull red to a vibrant blue.

The ork got closer and closer until it was almost in front of me. I focused on the ball and felt a pulse fly through my hands. The orb racing forwards before smashing into the ork. Metal boiled away and formed fist sized hole in its body.

I was used to the drain on my body by now. It was a strange feeling, It wasn't like being physically tired. Nor mentally. It just felt like a lead ball was in my chest, dragging me to the ground with the rest of my limbs unaffected. Well mostly. I noticed that each time I used my powers my hands began to buzz. That probably wasn't a good sign. Especially since it seemed to get worse every time I used it.

"We got more Orks incoming. Anyone got any ideas because I just ran out of power cells." Yelled Wendy. She had now dropped her gun and drew the same combat knife that I had been given.

"Luke!" The commander yelled at me. I turned to face him as he took precise shots at the enemy "I need you to do something for me. You see those crates out ahead." He pointed towards a point out away from the safety of the barricades. I followed his hand to see what he was pointing at. Four crates were lain about 80 metres from where we were now, they looked pretty heavy too.

"I need you to go to them. That's where we placed the Orks guns from the last few days. They are ridiculously loud and may fall apart on you but they are the best chance we have right now. Just whatever you bloody do don't tell anyone what you do once you get back to base. Most people will let it slide but there are some fanatics who will scream heresy for even mentioning the idea of using them. Understood?"

I just nodded and looked at the large crates. They would provide some decent cover once I got there being filled with metal but the problem of getting there still remained. 80 metres would take me a good 12 to 15 seconds in my current state. More than enough time to get shot, stabbed or just beaten to death. I sighed realising why he had chosen me. This was a suicide mission and while he seemed to have some concern for my life it was secondary to the others who had likely been with him for quite a long time.

"Alright listen up, whoever has something left to shoot give them hell. Luke get ready." The other unloaded on the few remaining Orks, incinerating their flesh and burning the life from their bodies.

As soon as the last Ork fell I ran as fast as I could. 30 metres remaining, 20 metres, still no sign of Orks thank the emperor. No idea why people here say that but whatever.

"Waaaarghhh" Oh shit.

Not far In front of me came the bodies came the bodies of the Orks. Luckily there were only a few of them but with nothing but my knife there isn't much I could do. Seconds later the others back by the base began firing into the Orks taking two of them down. The last one was now only metres away and swung its large knife /sword at me. I ducked under the swing and took a slash at its side scoring a deep cut.

I turned to face it again and immediately I felt like I wanted to puke. A laser just hit the back of its head and caused its brains too blow out of its face. Luckily none of it got on me.

Taking advantage of my moment of safety I quickly ran towards the crates and jammed my knife under the side of the sealed crate and prised it open revealing several crude ork weapons. They looked like scrap metal had been hammered together to make them. I picked one of the pistols up with one hand and nearly dropped it when I realised how heavy it was. I had to use my other hand to hold it steady and even then it was difficult. It must of been at least 30-40 pounds. Its balance was terrible. I fired a test shot into the ground and cringed at the load noise it made. It was awful.

The problem with where I was standing was that It was near a slight hill, which is what stopped me and the other from seeing the Orks until they got about 100 metres away. That cut the time they took to get to me about in half. Add that to my squad being that extra 100 metres back and trying to not hit me... I wasn't in a good spot.

"Smash da hummie!" 'Oh crap'. I thought.

Another half a dozen Orks were charging. Why did they always have to come in large groups? It wasn't fair...

I raised the heavy gun at the charging ork and pulled down on the trigger. Instantly a spray of bullets left it. Heavy recoil almost forcing me to lose my balance, but it sure was effective. The guns were highly inaccurate but they were pretty effective if only because of shear fire rate and calibre. They were torn apart. Almost literally. Bullet holes about an inch in diameter caused massive amounts of bleeding.

Four of the Orks were cut down in seconds. Several of the shots going into and through their heads causing them to fall to the ground. The other two Orks were still charging when I turned my weapon towards them.

Unfortunately the weapon I was holding ran out of ammo. True there were a whole load of other weapons I could use but with only a fraction of a second to react I didn't exactly have that luxury.

Reacting instantly I dropped my weapon and dived to the side, tucking into a roll as I landed. A strong breeze caused by the charging Orks buffeted my feet. That was too close for comfort.

"Waaaarghhh" It yelled. Turning once again to face me even as I was rising to my feet. I went over my options. My combat knife was almost useless. true I could get a few slices on them without too much difficulty but it had far too little reach and any wound I could inflict would be insignificant to the powerful Orks.

The next option was to use another of the Orks weapons. A few seconds distraction and I would have enough time to pick one up. But It was a gamble. If It jammed or was out of ammo I would have no time to get another before I was taken down.

The third was too use my powers. This was somewhat practical. At first anyway. My powers may be almost empty but I should have enough in me too take down just two enamoured Orks. Again this had its problems. There were no guarantee that I would even be standing after using it and I doubt I would have the strength to lift another of the heavy ork weapons. Swapping one problem for another.

That left me with one final option. I still had one ace up my sleeve. The single grenade I had been given. Up until now I had no need of it. But right now it was my only option. If I timed it right I could take out both Orks. It had its risks such as me missing or not getting out of the blast radius of which I didn't know the size.

I grabbed the grenade from my belt and held the pin with my other hand. The Orks roared again before charging at me. The moment they started moving I pulled the pin. Still holding the grenade in my hand. Before coming out here I had managed to find out that the grenade had a ten second delay before detonating. I needed to time it perfectly. Right before the Orks reached me I dropped the grenade and charged forwards. One of the Orks took a wide swing at me once more. Ducking I just managed to avoid the large knife, its blade grazing my right shoulder and making a fairly deep cut. I winced in pain but carried on running.

seven seconds elapsed. Eight. Nine.

By now I was a good twenty or thirty yards from the grenade. The Orks whom by now were pretty pissed off at being unable to land a decent hit were just starting to come towards me.

Ten.

The concussive blast knocked me off my feet and instantly I felt sharp shrapnel hit one of my legs causing me immense pain. My ears felt like they had burst and were ringing. I was quite lucky. My body still worked. Just.

I turned my head to look at my work. Once more my luck had held and the two Orks were torn apart by the blast and shredded by shrapnel. It had worked. I was alive. For now.

That blast had probably alerted every ork within a mile radius that there was a fight. And if there was one thing I had learned in my short time on this world it was that Orks loved war. I needed to get ready for the incoming swarm.

The crates filled with weapons were a good ten or twenty feet away from me and with a piece of shrapnel through my leg muscle I wouldn't be able to get there fast. I tried to stand but the moment I tried to walk on my damaged leg I collapsed from immense pain. I groaned in pain and annoyance.

"Well" I said to myself. "Only one thing for it"

The position I then found myself in was quite embarrassing. I had found that in order to move quickly I had to hop along on one leg with my hands on the ground like a limping dog and even doing this was painful with my other leg dragging along the ground. I can only imagine what the others watching me were thinking right now... If they dared to ever mention this to me, I would put a plasma bolt through their heads...

Despite the pain I was in from both my leg and shoulder, it took me less than ten seconds to reach the crates and drag myself up. There was no way I would be able to fire one of these standing up. That at least meant that I could use one of the bigger guns while lying down. If I could lift one of them out of the crates I would have much better firepower.

Looking into the crate I managed to find a suitable weapon. It looked like it weighed as much as I do but was also quite a high calibre if the barrel was anything to go by. It also seemed to have a reasonable high ammo capacity. My only concern was whether or not the Ork had used it. If it had there may be nothing left in it.

Bracing myself for the pain I grabbed the gun with both hands and began to pull.

Agony raced through my body as I lifted the gun, both from my leg and my injured shoulder, but I had to keep going. I kept lifting until it was out of the box before instantly collapsing with it to the ground.

"Bloody hell that hurt like a bitch!" It had better have been worth it too. If it turned out to be empty, there wasn't much I could do. I doubt I had the strength to get another and I didn't know how to take out and put back in the clip. Hell I couldn't even see where it opened it was so covered in rust and mud.

I pulled myself into a seating position and managed to point the gun in the rough direction that the orks usually came from. I didn't have to wait long because as I had thought before the sound had drawn a lot of them here.

Over the hill they came in their dozens. It was the largest group yet. But at least they were crowded together...

"Light em up." I said to myself and opened fire. A powerful spray of bullets left the gun, causing so much recoil I had to brace It with my legs just too keep it aimed in the right direction. My ears were also beginning to bleed again as well. I couldn't hear anything over the sound!

"Die you stupid things" I roared as they were cut down.

'Click, click, click, click' I froze. That wasn't what I wanted to hear. Once again I was out of ammo. Unlike last time, there were still dozens of them coming, and I had no grenade...

I did the only sensible thing I could think of at that time... I ran as fast as my damaged body could carry me. Not that it did much good. I barely made it a few metres before they were upon me. The closest ork raised its axe and began to swing. There was no one here to save me now...

Or so I thought.

It was at that moment that lasfire smashed into the remaining orks, blowing their numbers apart. I mentally cheered! Half were cut down within seconds. I was going to live! Out in the distance I could make out the commander yelling instructions to the others as they stared down their scopes in my direction.

Unfortunately as I had seen many times before, not all of them had the best aim. Several shots missed by inches. Some hitting the ground around me. Given this it wasn't long before one of them made a fatal mistake.

It felt like everything was in slow motion, a beam of light coming towards me. Except light gives you no time to react. Before I realised what had happened.

A beam of light impacted my body...

 _Thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed, don't forget to favourite, follow and comment for more. The next chapter will take a break from the combat. but don't worry if you do enjoy reading that. I have much more planed._

 _The next chapter may take a little longer than the others to upload but It should be done within two weeks. Also I am planning on redoing my chapter 1 because compared to the rest of my story it needs more work._

 _See you then. CurseofGladstone out._


	5. chaoter 5 Taking a break

Chapter 5

Taking a break...

After Emperor know how many hours me and the rest of the squad were finally allowed some rest from the fighting. It was a good thing too since all of us were exhausted and starving, as well as curious about several things that occurred during our shift.

Right now we were sat down eating our rations. Disgusting stuff if you ask me. Tastes like rubber. At least It was something though. Going an entire day without a chance to eat is not something I want to have to do often. Then again the discomfort is the unimaginably small compared to bigger thoughts. Such as staying alive.

It was Wendy that spoke up first, breaking us out of our absentmindedness.

"Long day huh." She said looking around. "Can hardly believe we made it. Good thing those power packs arrived again." A few of us nodded at that.

"We all know that it wasn't all down to a resupply." Everyone turned to look at the commander who was leaning against a doorframe. He nodded in my direction. "If it wasn't for Luke here I doubt we would have made it." Now he turned to address me directly. "I'm sorry that I told you to do that." He said looking ashamed. "I hate putting my men through such dangerous tasks. Many would have considered it a suicide mission." I dropped my head at that. I realised just how lucky I was to survive.

"But" My head snapped up. "I have got to say the you are the bravest son of a bitch I have ever had the fortune to meet. I saw your face back then. You knew you would likely die and yet you carried on anyway. Charging headfirst into the enemy to protect your team. If only all guardsmen were like you." He stood up straight from the doorway and walked towards us.

"Here, here" Said John.

"Now" Continued the commander. "I probably shouldn't do this, but you lot have earned it." From behind his back he pulled out a large bottle. Cheers erupted from everyone.

We took out our mugs and one by one he filled them up. When he filled the last mug he raised his upwards.

"A toast, to the hero of today. Luke!" He roared

"To Luke." They all chanted before happily gulping down their drink.

I looked down at my drink, not yet touching it.

"Never had whiskey before kid?" Said Max. "Trust me its good stuff. Takes your mind off everything."

I shrugged and looked at my mug again. "Well here goes nothing." I said before gulping down the beer.

Instantly my throat started to burn and I gagged. The others just laughed.

"Bit strong for ya?" They joked.

"Here" Said Wendy handing me a canteen of water which I quickly gulped down. It helped but my throat still burned.

"That was pretty awesome taking out the orks with their own weapons," said Max "They must pack one hell of a punch!"

"They are bloody powerful." I said. "But they are so heavy I could barely lift the lightest of them. They make a right stink when you fire them, can hardly be aimed and are so loud that I think my ears are still ringing from firing them!" They all laughed.

"Still" I continued. "At least they work well against armour unlike our flashlights!" More chuckles.

"Have to agree with you there." Said the commander, "Unfortunately the nearest manufactorum on this world has been taken over. Such a bloody shame. There's enough weapons there to arm everyone in this base."

"Still at least we know you can take out there armour" Said John. "Your powers are awesome. Creating freaking plasma bolts!"

"Speaking of which how does that not burn you." Asked Alice "I know just how hot that plasma can be, it should melt your hands off and yet." She looked down straight at me. " there isn't a mark on your hands."

Now it was Max that spoke up again. "That right actually and that makes me think of something else. While you were out of the trenches fighting the orks, and I'm really sorry for this but one of my shots hit you. That should have badly wounded if not straight up killed you. Yet as far as I can tell your completely fine!"

I paused at this. At first when I felt the lasgun bolt hit me I didn't think about it. True it shocked me but I had bigger things to worry about. Looking back though... I remember feeling a warmth where it hit before it faded...

"Maybe it's to do with my powers" I suggested."The ability to control these immense temperatures must also make me immune to them." Then another thought hit me and I stopped in thought. Thinking about the implications. "Guys" I said leaning forwards. "When that shot hit me something weird happened." I took a deep breath. "I felt warmth for a second but then nothing but the light was defiantly absorbed by me and it caused my body to heat up. I don't think I am only immune to heat. I think I can absorb it..."

"But if that's true then..." Wendy started.

I nodded. "It means that my powers recharge off of heat. It also explains why I felt so refreshed in the sun. It was literally regenerating my energy."

The commander was deep in though. "So what you are saying is if you are exposed to high temperatures you can absorb the energy correct." I nodded.

"That means that you are completely immune to lasguns or any other heat or light based weapon!" Exclaimed Max.

"We could recharge your powers using our guns if we needed to as well. That should help you to deal with the armoured orks." Explained John.

While we were all discussing just how great this was, we didn't realise that the look on the commanders face had gone to one of concern.

"I have to tell the Lieutenant about this." He said. "This is a very dangerous ability." He seemed reluctant to say this.

"Why is that?" I asked worried.

"Because now you are even more of a threat than before. My agreement with the lieutenant was that I report any new info to her and this is something very important."

"You're willing to stab him in the back so quickly despite what he has done for us!" Yelled John.

"I don't exactly have much choice" He yelled. "Disobeying a direct order is like signing your own death warrant ."

"It will also complicate things..."

"What do you mean!" this was not going to be good news for me.

"The reason you were assigned to my squad was so that I could kill you if you turned out to be a threat" The others growled at this. "But now that you have shown to be immune to lasguns which means you are even more of a threat than before."

"So what does that mean for Jake!" Wendy yelled.

"It means that he is even more of a threat than before, it means that we have almost no defence against you. If the lieutenant thinks that there is any chance you will betray us, then she will not hesitate to have you killed."

"I would never betray you. Your my friends." I said. Insulted at the suggestion.

"I know that kid. But I don't have a choice. I promise you my damn that I will try my damn hardest to avoid that outcome but in the end it comes down to her."

"This has gotten out of hand." Said John trying to break the tension. He turned to the Commander. "When you give your report to the lieutenant I want to be there. I'm not letting someone who has done nothing but help us by killed because he is supposedly a threat. One that we all know doesn't exist." He turned to the rest of us. "Luke, don't worry, we will sort this out."

(Time skip: 2 hours)

The mood after the argument was poor. It hadn't taken to come to grips of what had happened, and nobody wanted to think about the possibility. They were good friends. They stuck by me against the commander. Despite the time they had been with him. I know that he didn't have any choice in these matters but I still feel like he is the one who got me into this mess.

I was just lying on my bunk now. Waiting for news to return of how the meeting went. It probably wasn't a good idea to stay up for so long. Especially since would need my strength for tomorrow. I just couldn't sleep...

"Luke." I turned my head towards the voice. It was Max. "I just wanted to say mate, that we are all with you. The commander is too, he's just scared. I've been working under him for a few months. Some of the others for years. He would never willingly say something like that to the lieutenant." He paused for a moment. "No matter what happens I will stand by you. You've done so bloody much for us in such as small amount of time. Only a fool would believe you to go bad."

I smiled at this as I lay back down on my bed. I had friends here. They believed in me. Who cares what others think!

Finally my body relaxed and went willingly to the realm of sleep.

 _Thanks everyone who has read my story and thank you xforce5 for the link to the wiki. I found a lot of cool stuff there. I will sure as hell use some of it for future chapters. After all, where better to find new and exotic weapons than a forge world?_

 _Next chapter should be up in a week or so. Thank you again and don't forget to follow and favourite to keep up to date as well as comment suggestions. All are appreciated._

 _CurseofGladstone out_


	6. Chapter 6

_Thanks everyone for reading my story, over 650 view now! this means so much to me. Remember to follow and favourite to keep this story alive and comment suggestions for me to use in future chapters. This is my biggest chapter yet so I hope you enjoy it._

Chapter 6

Charged

It was the next day that I found out what had happened. John had come to tell me himself the news. I was told that many people in the meeting had argued strongly for my execution. The idea that I would be immune to almost all of their firepower scared them. Thankfully the lieutenant along with several others, the commander included, had voted in my favour. It seemed that my skills in combat impressed them, for now while I was useful they would keep me around. Many didn't vote in my favour though. Despite all I had done they still believed that I shouldn't be allowed to live, simply because I wasn't a sanctioned psyker.

Why did this universe have to be so backwards? Why were so many people willing to kill me when I can help them. The situation out there is going to shit and they can't see that I can help!

There was something else as well. John had to leave by then but he had heard rumours of a mission of some kind? He didn't have much to say about it. I sounded like it was a big deal.

Right now though It was back to the front lines for me. Another day of hell. My leg and shoulder were also still killing me. Sure they had scabbed over but that only made anything touching them worse.

Pain was not something you grow used to in a day. But on a world like this, I doubt it would take long. If I survived that is. Damn it, I really need to stop thinking about this right now!

But as long as I was useful I would stay. So better get busy!

It didn't take long to get up. Turns out that when you're in the guard getting up early is something you tend to do a lot and apparently I overslept by about 5 min. I'm a bloody teenager what do they expect? I probably would have stayed there for another two hours if I hadn't been woken.

"Afternoon" Max said as he almost had to drag me to my feet.

"5 more minutes" I mumbled still half asleep.

He just laughed. "Come on. Lets meet up with the other. How you feeling?"

"Exhausted still, my leg hurts my shoulder hurts and I don't think my powers have regenerated much."

"You're leg I can understand considering the piece of shrapnel we had to take out of it. You're powers though are odd. I thought psyker drew their energy from the warp? You should be near enough back to normal by now. Ah well. At least we know we can just shoot you to give you a boost."

We walked through the bunk filled rooms where we had slept until we got to the door. There the others were waiting for us. They seemed to have recovered a lot.

"Found this one still asleep" Said Max. The others just laughed.

"Shut up." I said, too tired to make a decent comeback.

"Don't worry about it, I was the same when I started. At least the commander wasn't there to wake you up with a bucket of ice water. It's what he did to me when I first joined under him!"

"Better get going anyway. Our shift is coming up soon. Really don't want to be late. Trust me the amount of trouble you could get in is immense." Said John looking at his watch which I assume he always had, I couldn't exactly remember all of last night. My head was still buzzing a bit. That whiskey they gave me was really strong stuff!

We talked as we walked back towards the front lines where we were before. The same grey corridors and crates were once again all I could see. It was so bloody dull.

Still this was a military base not a hotel, what did I expect? It was designed to withstand enemy artillery, not look pretty. They could have tried though...

We talked mostly about what today would bring. About how they were glad to have me on their team but also hoped that I wouldn't have to pull the stunt I did yesterday. They were still going on about that? Speaking of which I was limping a little. Damn annoying.

My powers weren't looking good either. While they had recharged a little I had no sunlight to saturate me. If we came across armoured orks today it wouldn't be good for any of us.

We had gotten about half way to the lines when we had met up with the commander.

We stopped as he started walking towards us. I looked at him with concern. He looked absolutely exhausted, dark rings showing around his eyes. It looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep. He also looked angry. Very, very angry.

"At ease" He said as we stopped and relaxed. "New orders have arrived, I know this is a bit sudden but you've been reassigned."

"What?" Cried Max. Looking confused.

I felt the same. From what I remember from the stories I had been told last night the squad had been stationed where they were since the lieutenant took over. Why change what had been working so well? Unless of course they think we would be better elsewhere...

"So what are our new orders then," I said "Are we defending another part of the base?"

His look said otherwise. "No we are not," he turned to John. "You know how you had to leave the meeting last night." John nodded, "well this is why. There is a plan that some of the higher ups have thought of. Bloody suicide if you ask me but they consider it worth the risk. We are leaving the base by which I don't just mean going outside." He stopped to let that sink in.

The base was relatively safe... it had cover and you could be resupplied fairly easily, even if it did take a while, so the only reason we would leave would be!

The others seemed to realise what this meant as well. It wasn't good.

"While the base does have some heavy weapons, a few heavy bolters and sentry turrets, there aren't enough to defend all sides from the armoured orks. As you know from yesterday, we barely managed to hold them off. That was with Luke's help. Other squads have been taking a lot of casualties lately and are losing ground, it won't be long before the base is overrun. They simply don't have the firepower to deal with heavy armour and we can't call for a resupply since the orks control the planetary defence weapons. The higher ups want to fix that." He paused for breath. "They want us to get to the bloody manufactorum. They want us to go there, get weapons and then somehow get back!"

"How the hell are we supposed to do that? They are probably a thousand orks between us and the manufactorum. We won't even make it half way!" Yelled Alice.

"What the hell are the higher ups thinking.", "This is suicide", "Tell them to shove..."

"It's because of me isn't it." I mumbled. The others seemed to hear and stopped. "They couldn't get away with executing me so they are doing the next best thing. Throwing me to the orks. And they're throwing you with me," My legs trembled and gave way. I was terrified and guilty, my whole body wouldn't stop shaking.

Wendy wrapped her arms around me to try and bring some comfort. I wrapped my arms around her. Barely moving from the immense emotion I was feeling. This was my fault, If I had never come here this wouldn't of happened...

We stayed like that for a couple of seconds, being close to her bringing me comfort. I may be a guardsman now but at heart I was still a child. I didn't have the adrenaline I had yesterday to keep me going.

"No one here is going to die." She said softly before gritting her teeth. "Not if I have anything to say about it!" She carefully untangled herself from me and stood up. She looked pissed. "No one here is dying. We get there get the weapons and get back. We will complete the mission, there is no alternative!" She roared, "We will survive, we are not giving up because of the orders of some crackpots!"

"Well said," Spoke the commander, a determined look filling his face. "We are going to complete the mission, and we are going to do it well!" He turned his head to look at all of us. "I have faith in you all, we can do this!" he cheered. The others cheered with him.

I was still on the floor, taking this all in. They didn't care that I had caused this? Why? I was the reason they were having to do this in the first place, they should hate me and yet. I looked at them all. Max, John, Wendy, Alice, the commander. They weren't giving up. So why should I?

I felt self anger fill my body, my fist slammed into the ground and I began pulling myself to my feet. The commander turned to look at me, the corner of his mouth twitching to show a small smile.

"So," I said. "We better get ready."

(Time skip) (one hour)

The moment we had stopped talking we had started getting busy. As we were going out on such a dangerous mission we did get some benefits equipment wise. With thousands of orks and over ten miles to cover this was going to be a long journey. So I don't think anyone would mind if we took a few extra power packs each, maybe a grenade or two?

"Each power pack lasts for about 100 shots remember, we each have 5 power cells on us so that's 500 shots each, 3000 between us. Since it should only take a few shots to take down an ork, ammo wise we should be fine. The only concern is if we run into multiple armoured orks. We won't necessarily know they are there until they are right in front of us. If that happens it will be up to you Luke to take them out fast." I nodded. "We can use the shots from our guns to recharge your powers if we need to. Let us know immediately if you need it."

"Understood." I said, fitting the last pack into my belt.

"This is likely going to take at least a day to complete, probably more with all the resistance we will be facing. Because of that I means we are going to need somewhere to rest and regain our bearings. While you are all in a fairly fit state I highly doubt that we can make it all the way in one go, not unless we walk the whole way and even then it would be hard," He rummaged around in his pack and brought out a map.

He opened it out and laid it flat out on the table. I looked at it and could see that it was detailing the area we are in.

"We are here." He said pointing to a spot on the map. "The manufactorum is here, quite a long distance away, but here, here and here." he pointed to several other spots. "There are several small outposts. If we can get to one of these and quickly retake it, we should have a place to rest. We can take turns keeping watch If needs be." We all nodded.

"Another thing to note is that it is better that we start the journey at night. Orks may be very strong compared to us physically but their senses are no better than ours, in many cases worse. We will use this to our advantage. Avoiding as many orks as possible, and ambushing those that we can't. No unnecessary fighting here. No one is dying on this mission."

"Won't our lasguns give away our position if we use them?" Said Wendy concerned.

"Only if there are other orks nearby. As you know lasguns aren't that loud. True they do make a small bang but that is quite mild. I doubt the orks will hear it over their own roaring. Also the beam only lasts for about a tenth of a second. Any ork that isn't looking straight at it will miss it by and even if they do notice it in the corner of their eye by the time they get a decent look it's gone. Still its best to try and synchronise our shots to lower the flash time down and avoid having other orks see the flashes."

"One final thing," He said. "If we begin to run low on supplies. Do not hesitate to take them from the dead. I know how many of you feel about this but they are more useful to us than them. They've done their part. Let their fight carry on through us." The others looked uneasy about this but agreed. I could understand, looting corpses was not only a sickening task but could also be considered dishonourable.

"When we get to the manufactorum what then?" I said. "It will likely be crawling with orks. And I highly doubt that the whole place will just be unlocked for us to take what we need."

"You're right. When we get there our first priority is to get into the store rooms. Those doors are made of thick metal and that's where you come in. Lasgun fire will do bugger all against it, we would likely do more harm to ourselves, but plasma? That stuff will melt through the door with ease." I nodded in agreement having seen how destructive I could be if I wanted.

"What do once we get the weapons" I said.

"Drop anything we don't need, get as many of them as we can and head back. Who knows, maybe we will get to keep some of them. I've wanted to get my hands on a plasma gun... There will be potentially hundreds of different weapons and variants there that we can choose from. Find out what's best and take them."

"If everyone understands the plan then me should keep on getting ready. It's about 5 hours before sundown. We have until then before we leave. Make sure you get plenty of rest. You're not going to get much till we are back."

"Speaking of which my powers feel like they are still running near empty, I might need a recharge or else I might not be able to fire a single shot." I said. The commander though about this for a second and then grinned.

"Alright everyone get your lasguns and follow me. We are going for some target practise."

"Why do I get a bad feeling about this?" I said as I followed them.

"Because you're the target." Said the commander.

That didn't sit well with me, then again I knew lasgun shots would only help me regenerate my powers but even so it goes against every bit of common sense you have to let someone fire a weapon at you. Especially if said weapon is one you have seen kill hundreds of beasts twice your size.

We followed him for a while through the large armoury until we met what seemed to be a firing range of sorts. There were long black corridors that stretched for about 40 metres where there was an angled target with concentric rings and then a back wall which was again black and angled so that any light that wasn't absorbed would be reflected safely into another black wall and not straight back at us. I guess that there was no point having half of your men go blind during training. It still amazes me that they don't issue light filters or something to go over our eyes. It doesn't take that strong a laser to make you go blind...

At least it wouldn't make me lose my sight. Since light damages your eyes by burning them. Luckily for me I can't get burned.

"Alright Luke what I want you to do is take off your armour and shirt and then go stand in the range. Not too bar back though. Lasguns like ours loose power the further away the target is, we want you getting as much of it as possible." Said the commander.

If someone heard him say this they would probably think that he was mad. Luckily there was no one else around as they were all out fighting.

Grudgingly I did what he said. First taking off my heavy body armour which dropped to the ground with a heavy thunk. Damn that felt nice.

I took the moment to stretch my shoulders, I didn't realise how sore they had become. That armour weighted a freaking ton!

Next came my shirt. Admittedly I was a bit embarrassed to do this. Especially with everyone looking at me. What? I'm a teenager and taking your shirt of in front of two women is not something I'm comfortable with. Not yet anyway...

Nope, nope, nope, nope. I shook my head. No thinking about that right now, don't get distracted! Hormones are not helping right now!

I hopped over the metal barrier and into the firing zone before turning back to face the others.

"Alright I'm ready, let's get this over with" I said.

Thinking about it I realised that a lot of the light could be reflected back at them from my body, because of this I tried concentrating on the light, similar to using my powers but reverse, absorbing the heat instead of making it, not sure if it would work but it was worth a shot. I didn't want the others to get dazed.

The others just grinned and raised their weapons, I gulped. No turning back now.

"Fire on my mark." Said the commander raising his hand.

"Um, I think I'm having second thoughts about this." I said. They only grinned more.

"Three, two, one." He lowered his hand.

All at once beams from five lasguns repeatedly impacted my body. Weirdly this was a REALLY nice feeling, like being in the sun multiplied by a thousand. Damn it felt good!

Looking down I could see where the beams were impacting me, strangely my chest wasn't glowing like I thought it would, instead it seemed to have taken on a dark aura. Absorbing all of the light more efficiently. It seemed that my plan did have some effect.

"That's useful." I murmured.

The firing carried on for an entire minute. With each second that passed I could feel myself getting more and more awake my senses sharpening. By the time it had finished I could feel myself buzzing with energy. In that time they had probably fired an entire power pack each. That added up to around 500 shots. Each of which was at close range, contained enough energy to vaporize most of your head and was almost fully absorbed by the weird aura that was generated by my body. That added up to a shit ton of power.

Once the firing stopped everyone sat their weapons down and looked at me.

"How you feeling Luke." Said Wendy smirking.

I smashed my hands together a red flash pulsing from them.

"I'm fired up now!" I laughed.

 _Thank you xforces5 for the comment, this chapter didn't take too long to write. Next one should be up within a week once again. I'm really getting into this story now. As you can probably tell that last line I borrowed from fairy tail but I thought that it would be a pretty awesome thing to say at that moment._

 _Thank you to everyone who has read and follows my story and for those of you that haven't yet, don't forget to follow and favorite for more content and also comment with suggestions, which if they are good I will try to incorporate into my story._

 _Thank you for reading and see you in the next chapter. CurseofGladstone out._


	7. Chapter 7 Sacrifice

_Hello everyone, I can't believe how well my story is going. Over 1200 views! Thank you everyone. Don't forget to favourite and follow for more content and leave suggestions to help this story. All will be appreciated._

Chapter 7

Firepower

It was finally time to go. After spending several long hours waiting, night had finally descended. During that time I and the others had simply spent our time resting and talking. Mostly about what we were going to do as well as what weapons we thought we would find.

My body was still buzzing with energy. Maybe we had overdone the charging, but who cares. I felt great! Although It was a bit concerning how the occasional spark shot off my body before dissipating. I would have to work on that, it seemed that I almost have too much power to properly control. I really don't want to give high command another reason.

The sound of gunfire and shouting was constant throughout the entire time we were waiting. I doubt it would stop anytime soon. At least I hope It didn't. Not yet anyway. That would not be good.

"Listen up lads. As you know we are leaving through the east side of the base, luckily for us there has been minimal ork activity there so we should be safe. But that does NOT mean we should let our guard down. Orks can be cunning little buggers at times. So stay alert!" Said the Commander as we lined up by the door.

"Whatever you do, stick together. We don't want anyone getting separated. Especially not when we are in the middle of ork controlled territory. Good luck everyone."

We were all on edge as the commander tapped away at the control panel. The heavy steel doors rumbling open. Outside I could make out a half dozen people taking cover behind similar barricades to us. Dead orks lay sprawled out in the field behind them. There looked to be only about a dozen.

"Lucky sods" I mumbled.

"Move out!" yelled the commander as we moved through the doorway breaking into a light jog.

We kept our pace until we got to the forward most barricade. The commander held up his hand and pointed towards a point in the distance.

"From here you can just about make out the manufactorum. It may appear close from here but that is only because the structure is so massive. Keep a slow jog for now, we don't want to tire ourselves out just yet." He glanced around the open field.

"No sign of any orks at the moment but stay alert. Follow me." He quickly went into a slow run in the direction of our objective. We quickly followed suit.

Despite our somewhat fast pace my body felt the need to go faster. To me this was almost agonisingly slow which was weird. My leg had also stopped hurting as well. Maybe It was just being covered by the other feelings? Regardless it was a good thing I felt like this. I don't think I would be able to keep this up otherwise.

Unfortunately, some of the others did not fare as well as me. Within 5 minutes of running the strain was beginning to show on their faces. Wendy and Max in particular. Since they were fairly new guardsmen their bodies were not the strongest they could be. Maybe if they weren't carrying their heavy gear they would be fine, but that stuff can really weigh you down. We must be carrying a good 60lbs of gear each!

"Sir" I called.

He turned his head to look at me while keeping his pace. "What is it?" He replied.

"Some of us are getting tired sir. I'm not sure how much longer we can keep this pace up."

The commander glanced at the others before nodding in agreement. They were starting to sweat even in the relatively cold night. His pace slowed to a gentle jog before coming down to a walk. He did not stop though.

"I know you are getting tired but we cannot afford to be slow. As you may or may not know this planet has fairly short days. Only about 16 hours It doesn't help that it's summer. That means that we only have about six hours of darkness before the sun comes up. We must reach at least the outpost before then. We have barely made it half a mile now." He sighed. "We will keep walking for another 5 minutes or so. It was wrong of me to assume we all could keep that pace while laden down with our gear. Once that's over we will pick up to a steady jog. Now, stay aler..."

"Incoming" Said Wendy. Taking cover behind some nearby rubble.

We quickly followed suit before looking to see what was there.

I squinted my eyes a bit. About 50 metres ahead of us was a group of about 4 or 5 orks, it was hard to tell. They had ran out into the open across the street and were coming in our direction, worse yet two of them carried the heavy shootas I had seen before. Luckily I don't think they had spotted us yet.

"Listen up." Said the commander in a harsh whisper. "We need to take them out fast before they get to us . Don't give them a chance to react. Any shots from their guns will cause every nearby ork to run in our direction. When I give the word I want you to come out from your cover and open fire. Wendy, Max and John. You take out the two on the left. Me, Luke, Mark and Alice will deal with the others. Get ready now."

The orks came closer still, 40 metres, 30...

"Now"

In unison we rose from behind the debris and opened fire, seven stream of light peppering the orks taking them down instantly. Poor things didn't even have time to react. I almost felt bad for them... on second thoughts maybe not...

It was lucky our guns were quiet. No bigger than loud cough. It still wasn't a good idea to hang around though.

"Move out!" The commander ordered, once again breaking into a light jog.

So much for our 5 minute rest.

That was irrelevant right now though as we needed to keep moving.

More and more buildings past in the next few minutes, but the manufactorum looked the same as it did before. It was a bit disheartening. I know we had been gone from the base no more than 10 minutes but I hoped I would at least see some advancement.

I guess I would just have to be patient. It would take at least an hour, maybe two if we encountered more resistance to get to the outpost. Until then I would just have to stay alert.

We weaved though the damaged buildings occasionally taking cover to let an ork group run past or to take them out. Luckily they didn't slow us down too much. They seemed to be more focused on going towards the main source of noise; the main facility to notice us. For now at least we were making good ground, travelling at a not too slow but steady base.

"Are we nearly there yet?" I tried to joke.

The others just looked at me. I wisely shut up.

We travelled in silence from then on. Too focused on our objective to think about talking. We were in the middle of the hornets' nest. Any lack of focus could mean death. We were lucky that first time that Wendy was paying attention. We were not making a repeat of that.

Every fifteen minutes or so we took quick breaks to catch our breath. Usually before we tried to head past an ork encampment. They were bloody everywhere!

But despite the breaks we were beginning to get tired more and more often. Even the commander who up until now had kept a neutral face was beginning to show signs of strain. The buzz I had been feeling before was still there but it was much dimmer now, no more sparks flew off my body.

We were slipping. It was then that the inevitable happened.

"Oi ya gits, there some hummies to smash over there!" Busted.

We didn't stop to see what was coming. The ork had been a fair distance away, maybe 50 metres? It looked to be a Nob when what I could tell from my quick glance. Standing a good 7 feet tall and clad in thick plate armour. Time to scarper.

Using what little energy we had we ran. It couldn't of happened at a worse time because we were in the open and there was little debris to take cover behind.

There was no way we would be able to outrun them so that left only one option. One which we didn't want to carry out given the bad situation it would put us in. The buildings. They provided good cover. They were strong and had thus weathered the ork attack. But they were most likely filled with them. It would also leave us trapped. But we had no other choice. For all we knew there could be a hundred orks coming our way. To face that without cover was suicide.

Into the nearest building we ran. It towered above us. It must have been at least forty stories tall, perhaps even more.

"Go, go, go." Yelled the commander who stood by a shredded door, waving us in. I willingly obliged being the first into the building.

Instantly I saw the orks. Only four of them though. My gun snapped up. They charged.

Behind me the others had followed suit. Opening fire. Three of them went down immediately. The last one swung its heavy weapon down at me. I raised my gun to block it. Big mistake.

The impact knocked me to the ground and tore the gun from my hands. It once again raised its weapon before being struck down by half a dozen beams, causing it to be blown back in a cloud of vaporised blood.

"You all right?" Yelled Mark helping me too my feet.

"Yeah I'm good." I looked at my gun. It was lying on the ground was a deep gouge cut in it.

Surveying the damaged it wasn't good. The whole gun had been dented down the middle. When I tried to pull the trigger I was rewarded with a nasty shock, causing me to drop it and cradle my twitching hand.

"Shit that hurt." I said. Before looking back down at my gun. "Its busted," I finished, kicking it in anger.

"Luke. Your weapon may be broken but we still need your help." Said the commander.

He took a few quick shots before taking cover behind the wall. A few bullets spraying through the gap causing dust too fly from the corner.

"There are a lot of orks incoming, several of which are armoured. Get ready." He yelled.

"But sir there isn't enough room for us in here!" Yelled Alice.

It was true. The room we were in was quite small with several doorways leading to other parts of the building, this wasn't a good place to be.

"We need to get higher." I said. "From here the orks can attack us from any angle. If we get to a higher floor we only need to focus our fire on a stairwell."

"Better hurry then. We've only got about ten seconds before the orks get in here!" Said the commander taking a quick glance through the entrance.

We left the room in a hurry taking the nearest door. Just before leaving, Max pulled the pin from one of his frag grenades and threw it at the entrances. I was the first through each of the doors. Without my gun I was a lot more manoeuvrable.

We raced through the building just as the grenade went off. Hopefully that had slowed the orks down a bit. They should have just entered the building when that went off.

The two at the back, Mark and the commander occasionally took pot shots behind them. The roaring was getting loader. It wouldn't be long before they caught up with us.

Finally we hit a stairwell and began sprinting up as fast as we could. Any ork that got in my way quickly had a massive melted through its head. I was using far too much power in each shot but I didn't have time to focus right now.

Forth floor, eighth, twentieth, fortieth.

"Onto the roof quickly." I beckoned

The others weren't far behind me, after a few seconds the rest of them came through. But then came the orks.

I snapped off two quick pulses, each downing several orks but almost as soon as I took them down, more took their place. This had given the others enough time to get into position though. The roof had several large crates to take cover behind. They seemed sturdy enough being made out of metal. I hoped they would hold.

"Fire at will!" The commander yelled , bringing his lasgun to bare.

Together we laid down a suppressing fire. Each ork that came up the stairwell being instantly cut down. The bodies began piling up. It was lucky we worked so well together. Whenever one of us had to reload they were covered by everyone else. When an armoured ork charged into view, a quick plasma pulse cut it down. For now we were safe, the question was how long it would work.

Max, who was near the side of the building took a quick glance over the side.

"Guys we got a lot more orks inbound." He said, looking concerned.

"Nothing we can't handle, we've got plenty of ammo." Said Mark smirking.

"You lot, shut up and focus. " Boomed the commander. "We need everyone ready to shoot at the door. Max, if you can try to snipe them from over the edge. Do not let them see you though."

"Got it."

"Alice." She turned to look at him, "When I give the word I want you to throw a grenade down the stairs, hopefully I will do some damage." She nodded.

More orks poured from the stairwell. By now their bodies were beginning to block our view. I had a bad feeling about this...

"Three, two..!" "Look out" He screamed.

From behind the bodies, an ork grenade came flying out. Its end was burning and it landed right next to us. In a few seconds it would detonate.

"Take cover." I screamed. Trying to move away from it. Covering my eyes.

Whack. I opened my eyes. Standing there was Mark. He had kicked the grenade! It sailed through the air and landed by the ork bodies, just as several more came in.

BANG!

The shockwave buffeted me from behind the barricade, blasting my eardrums and smashing into the crate I was behind, ramming it into my back.

I was alive! Max saved us! But wait.

"AAArghhhh." It was Wendy's scream.

I looked to see what had caused her distress. My head plummeted.

"No..." I whispered.

Lying on the ground was the body of Mark he had been blasted back by the shockwave and wounds littered his body from the shrapnel. He was dead. Killed in an instant. And I had been powerless to stop it. He gave his life to save us.

"Damn you" I whispered. My body filling with rage.

"Damn you!" I screamed. Rising up from behind the crates and charging towards the stairwell.

"Luke wait!" Yelled the commander.

I didn't care, they killed my friend. They deserved to die! Every last one of them! I charged down the stairs. Firing pulse after pulse at the orks, the shots flying straight through their bodies and melting the walls behind them. Down they fell. A dozen, two dozen. Nothing would stop me.

At least three dozen floors had gone by. I was near the bottom of the building now. I could see only one more ork charging towards me.

It wasn't long before it fell. Its lifeless body fell to the ground. It wasn't enough. I fired more pulses into the corpse. Vaporising limbs. Blowing it apart.

"Luke stop!" I froze and slowly turned. Standing behind me was Wendy. Her face streamed with tears. "Please just stop. This is not the way. I know you're angry, but getting yourself killed is not going to solve anything."

I looked down at myself. I was covered in blood. Not just ork blood. But my own. Several wounds were on my extremities. How did I not notice them?

Then I saw the bodies. They were littered around me and I realised what I had done.

The strain of firing all those pulses finally caught up to me, I had used too much energy. My body felt weak. My knees buckled and I collapsed to the ground. The last thing I saw was Max and John running towards me before my vision darkened and I lost consciousness.

 _Thank you everyone for reading my story and thank you everyone who follows or has favourited it. Next chapter as per usual will be up next week. See you then. CurseofGladstone out_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **The manufactorum**

It was later that day that we made it to the outpost. We had made it halfway there. But no one was in the mood for celebrating. My eyes were red from my tears, the others felt the same.

It had been relatively easy to make the rest of the journey. Minimal ork activity. If only it was this little earlier...

The others offered to recharge me. I tried to refuse. The last time that happened I got drunk on it and nearly killed the people I cared about in my rage. Emotions were still far too high to risk it. But without my powers, others could die. They pumped only 50 shots into me. Enough for maybe 2 or 3 heavy blasts.

By midday we finally entered the building. A Large fortress of steel, designed to withstand artillery fire. Yet it was a wreck. All the visible walls were heavily cracked of dented. Worse still, dead guardsmen were scattered around, all of them mutilated.

We entered inside the main entrance. Its thick metal door torn back off its hinges. Must of been an explosive the orks used.

"Finally a chance to rest." Said Max. His head was drenched in sweat. The hot sun beating down on him.

"Not yet," Said the commander, "There might be more orks inside."

We all just nodded and carried on walking. I was the first to enter the building, no signs of any orks.

We passed through more and more rooms, dead guardsmen and orks filling the area. There wasn't much else to see. Yesterday the carnage might of made me hurl. Today I felt little sympathy for them. I too tired and too pissed off.

"Waaaarghhh!" Down a long corridor the orks voice echoed, getting loader and louder.

A single large ork came into view wearing simple leather armour and a large 'choppa'. It roared again before charging towards us.

John simply raised his gun and shot it in the head, as if it were a minor annoyance which truthfully it was. He wanted to fight. Right now we all did. We all wanted to get revenge and blow off some steam. But we couldn't. We had a job to do and we would not let Mark's sacrifice go in vain. That would be the greatest of insults.

We walked by the orks corpse as if it wasn't there. Walking down the seemingly endless corridor it came from.

Finally we reached where we wanted to. The living quarters. We walked up to the nearest one. Luckily there was no one inside. It seemed they had all tried to escape or fight. Looking around though I could see that most of the other doors were already opened. The few that weren't had been damaged by orks. Likely trying and succeeding to get to whoever was inside.

"Everyone inside." Said the commander, gesturing for us to come in.

Looking inside It was a very simple, very militaristic sleeping arrangement. There were five sets of bunk beds and a room leading to a toilet. The beds themselves were quite hard. I pressed my knuckles against one to find that it only gave a bit under my hand. Even so it was better than sleeping on the floor.

"Drop your stuff by a bunk everyone." We did as he said. Each dropping our bags at different bunks. Three of us got our own bunk to ourselves but Wendy and Alice shared theirs, as well as Max and John.

"Listen up." Said the commander, closing the door behind him. "We each take turns keeping guard. We are not going to move out until at least nightfall. Maybe an hour of two after that. That leaves us about 10 hours to rest. Then we are moving out again. We will each take 2 hour shifts. We will discuss which order in a minute. Now. The manufactorum is only about 6 miles away now. Less than two hours journey. Come nightfall we should have more than enough time to get there. Once there we will follow the plan we came up with yesterday. One other thing we will need to do though is to get transport. We are not going to be able to carry even a single heavy bolter between us. Not if we want to make it back alive."

"I'll take first shift." Said john moving towards the door. "I don't think I can sleep right now anyway." The commander just nodded.

"First things first everyone should probably eat a ration bar. You're going to need the energy for tomorrow. There is no guarantee what we will find." He turned towards me. "Luke, I know how you feel about earlier, but we are going to have to supercharge you again. There is no telling what we will find in there and we need you to open wide holes in possibly several doors."

"Everyone get some shut eye. We are not going to let you sleep in." He was probably prepping a bucket of ice water as we speak...

Regardless I did as he said. Staying on the bottom bunk and dropping my heavy bag to the side where it hit the floor with a heavy thunk. I stretched my sore shoulders. I didn't realise just how heavy that bag was.

The bed was actually not to bad to lie on. It defiantly wasn't the best but it was decent. I was tired anyway so I could probably sleep on a hammer and not care.

My eyes began to take heavier blinks, I really needed some sleep...

But sleep did not come easy to me. I was restless, tossing and turning. Flashes of what I had seen played over and over in my mind tormenting me. The horrific sight of the orks. The death of Mark. Losing control... Why did I come here? What was my purpose? It didn't really matter. I was here now. Nothing was going to change that. I was going to look out for my friends. No one else will die. Not if I have anything to say about it!

Tonight when we go the rest of the way to the manufactorum I am going to need to be careful. I have no weapon at the moment. The commander did say he needed me to charge up but... Is it safe. I was barely in control last time. I had sparks coming off me. Not to mention when I got angry. I overcharged every shot. I could hurt someone. I was lucky enough last time.

It was too late to think about it now anyway. I would just have to do my best, for the sake of everyone.

Any rest I could get would be an advantage. I needed to rest. Yes... rest... zzzzzzz

"Wake up sleepyhead!" My eyes snapped opened. Standing above me was the commander, a bucket of water in his hand.

"Oh shit!" I said scrambling to get up. I did NOT want cold water poured on me. I fell of the bed onto the floor before getting to my feet.

"Well that got you up" He laughed. "Its empty by the way." He gestured to the bucket.

I walked towards him and looked inside. 'Wait. I thought it was...' He jerked the bucket sharply upwards, splashing its contents onto my face.

"Ahhh, what the hell is wrong with you." I said trying to wipe some of the water off of myself.

"You still looked half asleep. It's the easiest way to get you fully awake. Also its great fun." He smiled before putting the bucket onto the floor. "Better get ready anyway, it's started to get dark outside. We need to get going soon." He turned around and picked something up before looking back at me. "I saw your weapon was damaged. You powers are good but they aren't perfect, you need a backup. Here." He chucked me something. I instinctively caught it before turning my gaze towards it.

"What is it?" I said. It felt quite heavy in my hand. It was maybe a metres long and quite wide, not very thick though. It was also made out of... Leather?

"It's my sword, the sheaf looks weird doesn't it. Not very practical but it's what I was given. Standard issue. Three feet of blade, tempered steel alloy. Not sure what its alloyed with though. Doesn't really matter. Its sharp enough to cut through enamoured orks so be careful with it. Don't try to use it on metal because it will simply get dented or dull." He answered.

"Don't you need this?" I said grabbing what looked to be the handle of the sword and pulling it out. It was a plain silvery colour. What I would expect steel to be.

"You need it more than I do. Anyway I saw how you were with the knife a few days ago. That was pretty impressive. It was really only your knife that was holding you back. I could see that you struggled to land fatal wounds with such a shot blade. This should be a bit easier for you."

"Thanks." I said. "Um how do I attach this to my waist?" He just laughed and showed me how the strap went around and then could be easily tightened.

"If that's all then we should start to move out." He said before stopping. "You still need to be charged." I groaned.

What followed was once more another tedious setup. I was lined up against the back wall. It was dark which was useful. Should help avoid any unlucky reflects.

They each fired a most of a power cell into me. I couldn't tell the exact number but it was probably a few hundred. Definitely not as much as last time. While I did feel the euphoria that I did before It was more mild and I was not giving off sparks this time which was a bonus.

Finally we were set out to go. Every weapon was checked and double checked and fresh power packs were loaded into everyone's weapons. I personally had my hand on the hilt of my sword. It still amazed me that they used them given the amount of damaged even a lasgun could produce.

It gave me a sense of security anyway so I guess that was something.

"Everyone get ready. Remember we still have about 5 miles to cover. I want us there quickly. We only have about 6 hours of darkness. Sounds a lot but we can't afford to get bogged down. With that said move out!" We followed him through the corridors through the same maze that we came through earlier that day and out into the world beyond.

Not much happened for a long while whilst we were walking. Sure the occasional ork group popped up that had us scrambling for cover but it wasn't anything that we hadn't come across before. We were once more making good ground. The manufactorum in the distance looking bigger and bigger than ever. We were getting closer.

There was another problem though. Getting into the manufactorum. We couldn't go through the massive main gates that were coming into view. It looked as if orks had made some cannons to try and blast through it. Good luck. I had heard that the walls of the manufactorum were reinforced by adamantium which from what I heard was the strongest metal known to man. Apparently a sheet a single millimetre thick could stop a bolter round and be almost undamaged. At least that Is what the commander had told me. I'm not sure if that's accurate though. Who knows. At least the orks weren't going to get through anytime soon. Not with weapons like that. Although there did seem to be a large cannon of some kind on the ground. What was that doing there?

"It should be pretty obvious by now that we cannot get through the main gate. That doesn't matter. There are several more entrances that are designed for smaller vehicles to get in and out. That is how we will enter. Luke. If the doors won't open then I may need you to get them open. Got it" I nodded.

"If everyone is settled then we had better move out. We've got weapons to collect.

 _Thank you everyone who had read my story. I'm sorry for the late update I have been quite busy lately with school work. Next chapter should be up at normal time though as its going to be the holidays for me soon. Until then remember to comment and favourite for ideas and more content. CurseofGladstone out._


	9. Chapter 9

_sorry for not updating in so long guys, I was just finishing with school and then I went on holiday for a week. It's here now though. and now onto the story_

 **Chapter 9**

 **Weapons galore**

"So where are these smaller entrances?" I said as we walked towards the massive structure.

"There are several dotted around the sides of the factory the exact location though I'm not sure. They are pretty large though. Some tanks are pretty large and so obviously need an equally proportional exit."Said the commander looking around. "It shouldn't take us long them. The facility has sides a couple of miles long. I doubt we will need to go all the way along it to find an entrance."

The manufactorum was still a fair way off. Maybe half a mile. It would be mere minutes before we managed to reach it. I wonder what kind of weapons we would find?

I follow the commander towards the base up a small hill. Suddenly the commander stopped and dropped to the ground.

"Get down!" Yelled the commander. We instantly dropped to the floor. The commander waved us towards him. I crawled forwards.

Together we peered over a ridge. Below us was what seemed to be a mass of orks. At least 100 of them. Far too many for us to take out.

"What do we do sir?" Said John. He looked concerned.

"We have to get around them and fast. We have no time to lose. Get moving!" He got into a low walking position and began to move around the side of the hill.

The orks moved in the opposite direction luckily. And didn't notice us. It was a good thing too. They looked pretty tough. A large number of them carried their large guns. At least ten wore some form of metal armour. There was no way that I would have been able to deal with all of them.

The hill we were on provided decent shelter form their sight as we move around It towards the manufactorum, soon closing the distance.

We must have been walking for at least another 5 minutes before we had some luck.

"Look over there!" Said Wendy. She pointed towards a certain part of the factorum. We followed her arm. "It's one of the doors. It's pretty big. Do you think it will fit a tank through?"

The commander pondered on this hand on chin. "It should be. At least for a relatively small tank. Something like a chimera or possibly a Leman Russ battle tank. The latter is preferable."

"We are going to need to get through the door first though." I said. Before looking at the others. "Do you have any idea how thick the door is going to be? Because it might take a while for me to make a decent sized hole"

"It is pretty thick from what I have heard. It may take some time for you to get through." Said the commander before turning to the others. "Listen up. Once we get to that door it is pretty open fielded. Not a lot of cover either. We will have to cover Luke until he gets through the door. That may take some time though. If the orks come for us do not hold back. Fire everything you've got. Once we are inside we will need to be quick too. The orks will try to follow us. So be ready. Move out."

Together we sprinted out towards the door. No orks in sight. For now. Knowing our luck though that may not last very long.

The distance to the door was covered pretty quickly. 100m, 50m, 20...  
"Quickly Luke start melting the door we don't have long. Everyone else try to get some cover." Yelled the commander.

I nodded before running up to the door. Placing my hands on its surface I began to pump my energy through my arms and into my hands. Within seconds the area around my hand began to glow brighter and brighter. Soon glowing white hot. I began pushing with my hands. They sunk into the now almost molten metal.

Slowly I made progress, molten metal dripping from the door.

"Incoming!" I spared a quick glance to see what was happening. My heart dropped.

In the distance I could make out the figures of at least several dozen orks. And they were coming this way. The others had raised their weapons and were already beginning to fire into the group, but at this range the effects of the lasguns were reduced and the orks shrugged off the few hits that did land though.

I shook my head before turning my attention back to the door. I poured more energy into my hands in an attempt to speed up the process. The door started bubbling around my hands, pulling the metal away, leaving a gap that was constantly widening. It was having its side effects though. My arms felt like they were burning. It was a strange feeling given how it seemed impossible. My breath became deeper as well. My body quivered. I wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer.

"They're getting closer" Yelled Alice, her finger spamming the trigger, firing the lasgun at a staggering rate. I looked at her in concern. The view around her gun was becoming distorted, hot air rising from it. The gun was overheating. Massively. I looked at her face. She was trying not to show it but she was in pain. Her hands were burning.

Her strategy was effective though as the orks were being cut down quickly now. Not quickly enough though. They had already closed half the distance and most of them were still left. Worse still it looked like more of them were coming in.

By now the hole in the door was about a foot wide. Almost enough to get through. But I was getting tired and the rate at which the metal melted was slowing.

"How much longer Luke?!" Yelled John. Bullets from the orks guns had started to spray the area near him. Some missing by less than a foot.

"Al...mossttt... ttthheerrree!" I yelled giving one final push.

The area around my hands instantly vaporised widening the hole just enough for a person to get through. My whole body was shaking by this point.

Now I used my powers in reverse. Drawing the excess heat away from the edge of the hole. Regaining a comparatively tiny amount of energy. Lowering it down to bearable temperatures. At least I hope it was bearable.

"I'm done..." I said. Falling to my knees. My head buzzing.

"Wendy, Max, you two go first we will cover you. Get Luke through the door as well. Quickly!" Said the commander.

They nodded. Standing up and moving quickly towards the opening I had created. Together they picked me up and managed to push me through the hole where I fell to the floor inside.

Then Wendy went in. "Yowzers." She said as she got to the other side. "It's still really hot in there."

"What do you expect, Luke just melted a hole through it." Said Max before diving through the hole after her. "Ow, ow , ow. Your right." He said clutching his exposed hands.

"Told you."

From my position on the ground I could just about make out the voices of the others outside.

"Everyone else go, go, go." It sounded like it was the commander.

Max and Wendy pulled me away from the door. Just as the others began to pile through. First came Alice, then John. Finally came the commander.

But just as he got his head through. "AAArghhhh!" He yelled, gripping the sides of the hole.

On the other side an ork had grabbed his leg and was trying to pull him back. Everyone rushed forwards and grabbed his arms trying to stop it from getting him. He only screamed louder as his body was practically being torn in two.

It was a losing battle though. An ork is a hell of a lot stronger than a human. Especially if said human is already tired.

"Hold still!" Yelled Max, bringing his lasgun to bear. He pointed it down the hole at the ork before firing.

"AAARRGHHHH" Yelled the commander. The blast had taken the ork out, but it had also badly burned the commander leg. Finally we were able to pull him through.

The orks outside were livid. Scrambling and trying to get through. It was useless though. They were far too big to squeeze through the hole. We were safe. For now.

"We need to get moving quickly," I ground out. "That door won't hold them out for long."

"The commander is badly injured." Said John, looking down at him. He was breathing heavily. "His legs are dislocated and probably broken as well as burned. I'm surprised that they are still attached to him!"

"I can carry him. Max can carry you Luke. Everyone else stay alert, the orks may have found another way in." As he finished talking he reached down and grabbed the commanders arms and pulled him onto his shoulder. He gave a loud grunt of pain.

Max came over and did the same to me. I was barely conscious. I would be more than useless if an ork came.

Together we went through the massive room we were in. It was dark but as my eyes adjusted I could make out the contents. Dozens of tanks, each fitted with what looked like a multi barrelled turret. They must be the chimeras that I was told about. At least we had transport now. It was just a matter of finding something too transport.

The room seemed to stretch on endlessly, but we did eventually reach the end. Large doors leading to the rest of the facilities.

"Where now?" Said Wendy, still holding her lasgun at the ready. The sound of the orks at the door was now almost inaudible.

"Currently we are on the east side of the manufactorum," Said John looking at each of the doors in turn. "We should probably head deeper." He stopped in front of one of the door. "We should take this one. It appears to head further in, with a bit of luck we will find something useful."

"waaaarrrgghh..." Everyone's heads turned back. It was hard to see from here, but it seemed like it was brighter now...

"They're almost through!" Yelled Alice. Raising her lasgun. John stopped her.

"No point stopping." He said panicked. "We have to finish the job now!" The others nodded

So we ran as fast as our tired bodies would take us. Further and further into the facility. Along door less hallways, for a while the sound of the orks were getting quieter and quieter, but then that started to reverse...

"They're gaining on us!" Yelled Max. Pushing himself to run faster. Not that it would do much good. Orks could outpace normal humans at the best of times. Against us. We don't stand a chance of outrunning them.

Finally we had some luck. At the side of the corridor was an opened door. Putting on one last burst of speed we ran towards it. Just getting inside as the Orks came into view.

"Shut the door!" Max yelled. Dropping me inside before raising his lasgun.

Alice, Max and Wendy pushed against the heavy door, slowly forcing it shut. Then locking it.

"Now what?" Said Wendy. "We are stuck in here with no way out!"

"Not quite," I said looking round the room, my eyes lighting up. "I think we hit the jackpot."

The others turned and looked. Even the commander who was now rested against a wall.

All around the room, attached to walls and in crates. Of various shapes and sizes. What we had come here for.

"Holy shit." Said Alice.

The entire room was filled with weapons.

 _thank you everyone who has read my story and I apologise again for not updating in so long. Thank you for waiting._

 _Don't forget to favourite and follow for more content and comment your ideas, which I will try to include somewhere in the story._

 _Until next time. CurseofGladstone out._


	10. Chapter 10 A new arrival

_Hello everyone. CurseofGladstone here. Sorry I haven't updated in forever I lost the flow of the story and struggled to think of what to type i've been having writers block and then almost gave up on the story. I have also had a lot of end of term exams as well to go through, however the holidays are coming up soon and I should be able to update more often then._

 _Don't forget to favourite follow to keep up to date on new content and leave a comment for suggestions._

chapter 10

Almost home

With no time to waste those of us who could still stand began collecting whatever the weapons from the walls that they could carry. John wasted no time grabbing a plasma gun and began filling a box full of plasma packs. The others followed his lead, each collecting at least two weapons. One for themselves and the other slung over their shoulder. Bags were emptied to make room for the ammo.

"The Techpriests are not going to be happy if they find out what we are doing..." Said Max as he dropped his lasgun.

"Hope they don't find out then." Said Alice. "And if they do , just remember that we 'saved' the machine spirits from the merciless orks or some crap like that."

"That door isn't going to hold long." Said Wendy as she stuffed yet another plasma pack in her bag. She looked at me. "Luke, take one of our lasguns and try and get your energy back. We might need it." I just nodded and pulled myself over to one of the discarded lasguns.

More and more dents were appearing on the door. It wouldn't hold for long. We had a minute at most.

While I was busy pumping the energy from the lasgun into me the others were forming up behind the door having put all they could in their backpacks. Most of the weapons everyone had were plasma guns although it appears that John had found a different gun. It was large and short with a fat round barrel. Emperor knows what it is.

My energy levels were just beginning to get back to reasonable levels when the inevitable happened.

"Waaaarghhh!" The door bust open and instantly half a dozen orks charged through... and died within half a second as they were blown apart by the plasma guns, their effect eerily similar to one of my attacks.

"Charge! Don't give them a chance to fight back." Yelled Alice, steadily moving forward with the others, the commander slung over one shoulder and her weapon the other, John mimicking her on the other side.

Right now I wasn't all that much use though. I didn't have much time to get my energy back and even if I did my body feels strained from overexerting myself. Trying to use my powers would be suicidal.

Together we managed to push the orks out of the door and get us some breathing room. Hopefully there weren't too many of them further out. The sounds of the orks roars were quickly vanishing.  
"What now?" Said Alice as she shot the last ork in the head with her plasma gun, its melted corpse falling to the floor.

"We need to get the chimeras," Said John "We only have a couple of guns here and no heavy weapons. Luke, go with Max and Alice and go get one. I don't know how much time we have until more orks come." We wasted no time in carrying out his orders.

Together we retraced our steps towards the room where we entered the manufactorum, luckily there were no sign of any orks.

The hole in the door was now much bigger as the orks had ground away at its sides, leaving sharp edges, it was obvious from the blood on the floor that they had managed to shred their skin trying to get through, light now poured through better illuminating the room. I could now see all the tanks more easily. They were grouped into different sections based on what they were equipped with.

"Over here," yelled Max pointing towards one of the nearest chimeras, "that one has dozer blades on the front. It should allow us to break through any ork blockades that we face. I just hope it has fuel."

He ran up to the tank and jumped on top, Alice and me shortly following. Together we lifted the heavy hatch before jumping inside.

"Jeez its cramped in here." I said moving up to take my place next to Max.

"Not much room for pleasantries I'm afraid. Not up front anyway, all the space for transport is in the back." He said as he started to fire up the tank before turning back towards me. "Luke I need you to man the heavy bolter!" He yelled

"What?" I said. I could barely hear him over the sound if the engine.

Realising that I couldn't hear him he pointed to the gun in front of the seat next to me. It was a massive thing with an especially massive chain of bullets connected to it.

Max passed me a headset which I quickly put on. It covered my ears and mouth and It seemed to drown out most of the noise of the noise from the tank. Something that I was thankful for.

Suddenly the tank rumbled to life as it slowly reversed backwards. I glanced over to Max and could see that there was a screen in front of him highlighting several images revealing the area around the tank.

"That's useful..." I mumbled.

Soon we were going at a decent pace back round the corridors towards where the others were. Looking at the images on max's screen I could see that they had melted open several doors and had dragged several large guns out, by the look of things it was two heavy bolters and a much larger version of our plasma guns.

Max quick pressed a button and instantly I heard a grinding sound as the heavy back door of the tank slowly opened giving a ramp to load the weapons.

The others wasted no time in dragging the weapons into the tank one at a time. It took all of their combined effort (minus the commander) to even move them and it was slow and arduous work.

Luckily no more orks attempted to intervene. It was relatively quiet now and the hole in the door while large would do little to draw the attention of the orks if they even saw it.

Finally the last gun was loaded into the back of the tank before the rear of the tank started to close courtesy of Max, the heavy door screeching in protest as it finally sealed shut.

"John, watch the commander, Alice go out top and get the doors open, Luke man the heavy bolter. Wendy, man the Multi-laser. Everyone ready? Let's move." Max started to manoeuvre the chimera towards the heavy gates.

Alice jumped out of the hatch at the top of tank and ran at full sprint towards the gates. She raced to a lever by the side of the gate and after a moment's pause pulled it.

Instantly the heavy door began to slowly creep open, daylight streaming in. The engine on our chimera roared and as we began to steadily pick up the pace. From where I was I could just make out the form of several orks who were scavenging some wreckage.

"Contact out front range 70 metres." Said Wendy.

The tank sped on as the orks turned towards us. With a roar they broke into a sprint straight towards us. Quickly the distance between us started to shrink.

"Open up Luke!" Roared Max from next to me.

"Got it!" I replied, turning the heavy bolter towards their charging forms. I squeezed the trigger and released a quick burst of spray into their forms cutting the Orks down, their entire upper bodies detonating in a green spray.

"What the hell is this gun firing?" That was a lot of firepower..

"I don't know everything but it fires a 25mm self propelled explosive bullets. They are basically fire miniature rockets." Replied John.

"That's insane." I said completely shocked.

"Yep, It's also pretty bad ass!"

By now we had exited the Manufactorum and our vehicle came to a stop. Alice came running back towards us and quickly climbed onto the tank and then through the still open hatch before closing it behind her.

"I closed the door behind me before I left, should stop the Orks from getting inside." She said taking a seat besides John.

I turned around and looked at everyone, they were exhausted, the past day and a half had been intense with little to no sleep, the commander was badly injured and the loss of Mark had been a massive blow to us as well. We were nearly there though, we had completed our objective, we had got the heavy weapons and now all we had to do was make it back, and with armoured transport that would be a lot easier to accomplish. It wouldn't be long before we made it back. Just another hour or two. I could deal with that...

After half an hour or so we rotated our positions, now I had a chance to rest in the back. With the noise cancelling headset I could actually get some rest despite the tanks extremely loud engines. I actually managed to get some sleep... for a while.

"What the hell?" I yelled as the tank came to a stop, instantly waking me. "Why have we stopped?."

"You might want to have a look at this," Yelled Wendy from up top.

I pulled myself up through the hatch in the tank and squinted at the sudden brightness, it took a second for my eyes to adjust but then I saw it. In the distance I could make out one of the ork ships. I had seen a few of them before but this was different. Not only was it much larger, but it was falling from the sky, its rear section heavily damaged

"Since when did we have anti air capabilities?" I asked. Did the others back at base take it out or was it a failure in the ship. Or was It something else?

"We don't. It must have been an engine failure or something, Ork tech isn't exactly reliable. Plus all of the orbital defences are in their control." Said Wendy.

We continued to stare at it as the wreck continued to fall, quickly it descended to the ground before our view was blocked by the buildings. Something told me that we needed to get back to base fast...

"We better get going," I said, "That crash may bring other orks to head to it."

"He's right guys we better get going. The sooner we get back to base the better." Said Max, starting the engine again.

We retook our places as the tank started to speed up again. Something big was about to happen, I don't know how but I could feel it.

I tried to sit back and get some rest, It wouldn't be long before we were back. Knowing our luck it would be straight back on the front lines again.

 _And that's the chapter for this week guys. I will try and pump out another within the next few weeks and remember to follow, favourite, and comment for more content._

 _So you then. CurseofGladstone out._


	11. Chapter 11 Ultramarines

_Hey everyone, CurseofGladstone here again to bring you another chapter. I'm starting to get into the swing of it now that I have a clearer view on what I will write next._

 _Thank you everyone who has commented, followed and favourited. It means a lot. And don't forget to comment your suggestions for more content. Now, onto the story._

Chapter 11

Ultramarines

It was a little over an hour later that we made it back to base. The orks had given us minimal resistance and had allowed us to travel at a good pace.  
We gave quite a shock to the guardsmen posted in our usual spot, the last thing they were expecting was a tank to pop up over the hill and head towards them.

The moment we got closer we turned the tank around and started to reverse towards the steel doors where we could unload our assortment of weaponry. Hopefully it would keep the higher ups off of our backs for a while. If it didn't then I don't know what I would do.

"Let's never do this again." I groaned as I dragged myself from the seat to help unload the guns. I was still exhausted just like everyone else, but I had recovered a fair amount. The strain throughout my body had mostly gone now. It seemed I also recovered fairly quickly from absorbing heat too...

I climbed out of the back of the chimera to assist the others. Together we dragged the heavy weapons to the door where another team of guardsmen came and took over, loading them onto carts to be transported.

A pair of men came and carried the wounded commander into the facility to receive help. It would likely be at least a week before he could so much as walk. As for the rest of us we were sent to Central command to be debriefed, hopefully they considered what we had achieved to be acceptable because I was not doing that again!

"So what do you think they are going to say?" Said Alice as we were once more lead through the winding halls the base. "I hope they at least thank us for what we have done."

"The lieutenant from what I have seen is fair. While she may not have seemed it given how she threatened to have you killed, almost any other officer would have done so without hesitation. " Said John, "She should at least give us some time to rest. If we are lucky we might even keep some of the plasma weapons we acquired. It's unlikely though." I looked at the weapons everyone was carrying. From the one instance I had seen them used they immediately showed to be far superior to the lasguns, at least in terms of raw firepower. However ammo was likely its limiting factor.

"Well that sucks, I was just getting used to it." Said Max looking fondly at his weapon.

We bantered back and forth as we drew closer to the communications room, stopping before the steel doors and turning to the guardsmen posted there.

"We are here to be debriefed on our resupply mission." Said John holding out a sheet.

The guards scrutinised over it before nodding and pressing a button of the door.

"The resupply team has returned lieutenant," One said, "Sending them in now." The other guardsmen thumped the control panel and the door opened before us.

Together we strode into the familiar room, people at computers stilling working hard to give out orders. The Lieutenant was a centre of it all taking giving out orders to those around her. She looked like she hadn't slept in days.

"Hold out whatever the cost. We cannot lose that position. It's one of the best footholds we still have. We will deploy heavy weapons to you when we can just hold out till then." She said.

"Lieutenant sir!" John called striding up towards her before saluting. "We are here to be debriefed on our mission sir."

She looks behind him towards the rest of us eyes scrutinising. She seemed to notice the vacant spot in our team. "You've done well guardsmen," she said addressing us all, "From what I have seen you have acquired two heavy bolters, as plasma cannon, as well as a small collection of plasma guns. Thanks to you we may hold out a bit longer."

"what are our standing orders sir?" Said John.

'Probably just going back to the front lines' I thought bitterly. Not much else we are good for.

"You are too..." A vox chatter broke through on her consol. She immediately went to respond. "Yes, I know... Not much I can do we are strained enough as it is... Just hold the line."

A slight rumble shook the floor from beneath my feet. I glanced over my shoulder. My jaw instantly dropped. Striding into the room were three of the biggest men I had ever seen. They were easily over two meters tall and were clad in massive blue armour bearing golden skulls with wings. And their weapons... They looked somewhat similar to the heavy bolters I had used before just smaller. Even so they were far larger than any weapon I could feasibly carry.

stranger still, their heads seemed to have pieces of metal coating them in certain places and one of them looked like he had lost an eye. Whoever they were they were not to be messed with...

"Thank the Emperor." The lieutenant said with a huge look of relief. She strode up to the leading figure and saluted. "Lieutenant Mira. 203rd Cadian regiment." She said standing straight.

"Captain Titus of the Ultramarines." That was a badass name if I ever heard one.

"You are In command?" Said the one eyed hulk looking down at her.

"I am all that is left my lord, unless my commanders rise from the grave. So far they seem content to stay put."

I internally winced. These people seemed to be very influential figures given the amount of respect they receive. It probably isn't a good idea to annoy them.

Footsteps raced towards our now rather large group. I turned my head to see a guardsmen stop and address her. "The scouts have returned to forward base."

"How many." She replied.

The guardsmen hesitated for a moment before answering. "two."

She swore, "Damn, I sent out ten." Her fist shook with anger. Eight men lost. Given how strained we are already that wasn't good.

Behind her I heard the boom of the massive planetary defence cannon. She turned and walked towards the large window.

"That damned gun. We don't have the numbers to make an assault. We are barely holding out as it is. And as you might have seen it is shooting down all of our support vessels."

"That is why we are here." Replied captain Titus. "Leave the gun to us." Mira nodded in respect.

"Follow me then. Luke. you as well." I turned towards the other, they obviously knew what this would mean. "With all due respect sir-..." John sais before he was cut off.

"I understand your concern, but you know why." The Ultramarines looked at her in confusion. "He is a psyker my lords. He is from what I have been told of average power at best. No higher than a low gamma. He does however from what I have seen and heard have immense control over his abilities which alongside his usefulness is why I have let him fight." She explained, waiting for their reaction.

"You say he is in control?" Said Captain Titus. Mira again nodded. "Then for now I see no reason to kill him, but I want to see what he can do before he goes with us. He's a wild card and I want to know how he is best adapted for combat."

I nodded and nervously took a step back before focusing on the energy within me. Taking the utmost care to appear as calm as possible. I felt the energy flow into my hands, the air rapidly ionizing and forming into a thick blue plasma. For a few seconds I just held it before reabsorbing the energy into my body.

"His powers take a most unusual form. I haven't heard of a psyker who can make plasma bolts. The closest I can think of is a Biomancers lightening or a Pyromancers fire. Yours appears to be a mixture. Perhaps an equal affinity? No matter. Time is pressed and they will be useful."

The lieutenant began to lead us towards a different door at the side of the room. "I must warn you my lords that we have a bit of an ork problem out here." She entered something into the panel and the door slid open with a hiss.

Wordlessly we followed her through. Several doors followed and then we were out of the main bunker all together. It opened up into a large trench where two artillery cannons were firing. I followed the Ultramarines past them and down along the trenches that I had not seen before. It still shocked me how tall they were. They stood at least 7 foot tall. Their armour from what I could see was at least two inches of solid metal or ceramic. They were literally walking tanks.

I was so drawn in that a was slow to react to what happened next.

The floor began to rumble. "What the hell?" I said as about 50 metres away the earth began to churn and the ground flew up. From the earth rose a massive drill tipped in swirling blades.

"Digger, Digger!" One of the guardsmen cried. Firing a panicked shot that splayed over the metal hull doing little but turn a small area red from the heat, the majority of it being reflected by the metal.

'why don't they use infrared lasers? They don't get reflected by most materials and scatter less in the air. Then again they don't really seem to understand the concept of sloped armour that well. Most of the tanks have vertical sides...'

A second later a door on the side tore open and more than a dozen orks poured out roaring in anger. They saw us and began to charge.

Instantly I raised my lasgun and fired three quick shots. Two of them struck one of the orks, causing its upper torso to explode in a spray of steaming blood. It collapsed to the ground and struggled for a moment before going still. The moment the first ork fell I turned my gun on another, only to see several of the orks heads detonate in rapid succession, and not from a lasgun either. Glancing to the side I saw the smoking barrel of captain Titus's weapon. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. He managed to kill at least 3 orks with perfect headshots in about the time it took me to kill one with moderate accuracy.

'goes to show just how much I have to learn' I thought to myself.

More rumbled shook the earth and several more drills breached the surface. Each spilling out a similar number of orks to the first. They fell like them too as the combined might of the guardsmen and the Ultramarines took them down quickly.

The moment the last ork fell our rapid advance continued. I was barely able to keep up with how fast they were running. It didn't even look like they were putting much effort in as we rounded another corner.

I could see a line of guardsmen firing at charging orks. They were quickly overwhelmed however, but the moment the orks reached them a large explosion went off, killing the guardsmen but taking the orks down with them.

Not far out in front of me I saw Titus take control of a heavy bolter that had been mounted facing towards the enemy. Its previous uses lying dead on the ground in a pool of his own blood. Bile rose up my throat. It wasn't a pleasant sight.

I tried to turn my attention to Titus. In his hands the heavy bolter was cutting down dozens of orks effortlessly, almost every shot hitting its mark. Then after the last ork fell he did something I didn't expect. He tore the gun from its stand. My jaw dropped as I looked at this. It had taken me as well as several others just to move the gun. Now he was not only holding it but also taking confident strides forwards whilst firing, albeit at a slower pace.

Single headedly he pushed further into the charging orks until his gun clicked empty then he just discarded it.

"Just waste all my hard work why don't you." I said walking past where the gun lay. we had more ammo for it. It would be a bugger for the others to replace it. Hopefully however we could push the orks back further making that unneeded.

Further and further we pushed into the ork lines, taking hundreds down with us. Thankfully I didn't have to use my powers at all since the Ultramarines bolters were more than enough to tear through them. Because of this, and the scorching sun I was slowly recovering energy. Not much but enough to sharpen my senses a little and keep some of the stain from running at bay.

Slowly but surely the massive gun emplacement got closer and closer as we made our way through ever more ruined buildings, it didn't seem like a single one was fully intact. Suddenly we stopped.

"This is where the orks breached the gun battery." Said Lieutenant Mira looking at a large hole in the wall of the gun battery. It was mostly hidden behind debris but I could just make it out. "We haven't been able to make it inside the wall." She sighed in frustration. "There just aren't enough of us."

Captain Titus spoke up, "You have survived this long on your own, lieutenant. You have done well. But you're not alone any more. Will retake the gun. You will get your reinforcements."

"I will hold you to that. Captain." Said Lieutenant Mira. "Luke, stay with the space marines. Help them where you can and do exactly as they say. They have hundreds of years of experience on you." I gave a sharp salute. "Yes Sir!" I said.

"We had better get going quickly." Said Titus. "The longer we wait the worse it will be." I said nothing as he walked away. Pondering over what the lieutenant had just said.

'hundreds of years?' I thought. 'How is that even possible?'

I looked at the Captain for a few seconds as he and the others began to walk off. How could I possibly hope to match them? It quickly dawned on me that if these guys wanted, I would be dead before I knew what happened. With that in mind I quickly ran to catch up. I won't be a burden.

 _And that's it for this week guys hope you enjoyed and don't forget to comment favourite and follow for more content. Until then. CurseofGladstone out._


	12. Chapter 12 Into the fray

_Hi guys I'm back again. Thank you for sticking around with me. I'm sorry this chapter has taken so long. I'm still going through phases of interest in this story. I feel restrained with the way I have made it follow the main story line and struggling to avoid making it repetitive_ _ **Any,**_ _suggestions would be welcomed and appreciated._

 _In response to a comment about making Luke part of the Blood Ravens, I am still considering it. My knowledge of warhammer 40k is limited in some areas and I feel I need more time to think about it. It is a good idea though and one I may implement later on. Anyway, on to the story_

Chapter 12

I was breathing heavily as I struggled to keep up with the Space marines. Despite encountering ork resistance they were still keeping an extremely fast pace. I had to constantly expend some of my energy to keep up, so much in fact that it brought my energy recovery to a standstill. If I went into shade It was even worse. Like I had been drained of my strength.

Several times I had found myself an inch away from death. Bullets had grazed my armour and peppered the ground around me. I had to react instantly to shoot them down less I be torn to spreads. Even orks can get a lucky shot in.

However we were making good ground. The planetary defence gun was getting closer and closer. Soon we would be upon it.

"Luke. In a few minutes we will be within the gun battery. When that happens things are going to get much, much worse. Be on your guard." Said Titus.

As we pushed forwards I could see large cannon towers firing into the distance. I could feel the vibrations from every shot. I couldn't tell what they were firing at though. I shook my head, I had to focus on the task at hand. Any distraction could get me killed.

It was good thing too, as upon high wall emplacements half a dozen orks carrying shootas come out and opened fire upon us. I dived for cover behind the nearest pile of scrap metal. Thankfully it was fairly thick. But I had no idea if it would actually stop their rounds.

'One, two, three' I intoned to myself before rising from cover and taking aim at the orks. A quick three shot burst left my gun. They damaged the orks cover but I scored no hits. Instantly they returned fir e upon me just as my head went below the barricades. A felt something thump my back. I slowly turned my head to the side. Small spots of daylight had breached through. My cover wasn't stopping them. Not entirely. It was only because of my armour that I was still alive.

"Clear!" Shouted The grey haired marine.

Moving from my barricade I looked up to the orks positions. Their cover had been blown apart and the orks were dead. I breathed a short sigh of relief. It was time to get moving again. The momentary break doing little to relax my throbbing chest.

Finally we reached something substantial. The iconic skull designed doors. Commander Titus thumbed the controls and the door painfully slid open. What I saw was not quite what I expected. It was an empty room. However as I followed the marines down the sloped stairs I could see something else. Thick, sparking cables ran across the room and under the door at the other side of the room.

"What are those cables doing there?" I asked.

"They must be powering Ork contraptions across the battlefield." Said the youngest of the marines. I still needed to learn their names...

"Should I destroy them?" I asked. Surely taking them out would benefit us later?

"No, these are not large enough to power more than a few contraptions. You would only be wasting your energy which we may need later." Well there was that idea shot down.

Titus opened the second door and we walked through.

Daylight illuminated the ground before me causing me to squint for a second. Before I could make out a massive metal contraption. It stood a good twenty feet tall with a curved blue body. What the hell it was.

Without a second though Titus strolled up towards it. A panel opened on the side and slammed down into the ground revealing what was within.

A large blue backpack? Or at least that's what it looked like. Titus quickly turned around and attached the bulky device to his armour. When he came out I could see what it really was. A massive jetpack. Could he really fly with that thing?

"I will take them from above. Follow on foot." He said before blasting off into the sky. Wait that wasn't quite true. The jetpack lifted him a good hundred feet into the air where he landed on top of one of the walls. I could just see him raise his bolt pistol and open fire before he jumped again.

"We should get moving." said the old marine.

I just nodded and ran behind him through the arched doors.

Instantly I was on my guard as the explosions and gunfire blasted through the air. In the distance I could make out Titus slamming down into the ork ranks, knocking them off balance before cutting them down with a large combat knife or shooting them with his pistol. It wasn't long however before they noticed the new arrivals and began to look towards us.

Diving behind cover I opened fire at the orks above. Cutting down one of them before turning my attention to the others.

A large armoured ork came charging towards us just as I had finished the clip in my lasgun. I slung it over my shoulder before pushing my hands forward. The air between them crackled before condensing into a thick white orb of energy. With a burst of energy the ball shot forwards from my hands towards the ork.

It didn't have the result I intended however. The ork managed to bring its spiked club to intercept my attack. It shattered on impact and the weakened energy ball splattered against its chest armour, melting it. The ork roared in pain as its torso was burned but it wasn't down.

Preparing myself for another attack I brought my hands together for another attack. But it was unneeded. A second after my attack hit the younger marine shot a quick burst of fire into its exposed chest, causing it to detonate.

"Come on!" He yelled charging forwards while downing another ork. "We don't have time for your stupid displays. You almost got yourself killed."

'Seriously?' I thought to myself. Does he have to be a dick?

I pushed the thought form my mind however. I had a lot of work to do.

It took just five minutes before we reached what appeared to be a large tunnel that had been drilled into the solid rock face. it looked like it went on almost endlessly. The cables from before led far off into the distance, sparking as always.

"Here's the Rok at last" Said Titus. He began walking into the tunnel without looking back. He was still moving at his typical fast pace although for him it might of just been walking.

"No room for that jump pack captain." Said the grey haired Marine.

Titus nodded in response before releasing something on the front of his armour. The aptly named jump pack fell to the ground with a loud chunk.

"The Rok delivered the orks right into the gun fortress." He continued.

We walked through the tunnel in silence for a long time. Surprisingly there were no orks. It was quite relaxing actually not to be constantly bombarded by the sound of gunfire and roaring. True there was still the heavy thunk of the space marines boots but I think I can survive that. I could hear the faint buzz from the electricity running through the cables. It was oddly relaxing. I almost wished I could spend an hour or two here. Despite having no sunlight to restore my strength, the cool air was a pleasant change. While I didn't overheat or sweat, the strong sun can still have a disorienting effect, I constantly felt like I was losing and gaining energy. It was nice for a while but soon I began to feel chills down my spine. Maybe staying here wasn't the best idea.

Finally we reached the end of the tunnel. There was a bit of a jump down so I had to tuck and roll to avoid injury. The space marines however barely bent their legs when they landed. Seriously what are their bones made of, adamantium? Actually they may very well be for all I know.

I rolled into a crouching position and raised my lasgun, scanning left to right. There were a dozen mini orks in the far corner and I could hear hundreds more clunking around nearby. I was able to pick half a dozen of them off before they even knew what was happening. Surprisingly they didn't notice the noise we just made.

"This fortress is swarming with orks." Said the grey haired marines. "It will take days to clear this place."

"The guardsmen cannot survive that long. We must find a way to destroy the gun." Said Titus.

"We had better get moving then." I said eyeing the ledge above us.

A group of mini orks, or whatever they were called were running along, there must have been a dozen of them.

Wordlessly Titus reached behind him to grab something. I recognised it instantly, a grenade. I didn't even realise he had them on him.

He pulled the pin and lobbed it onto the ledge, just in front of the mini orks. They had a split second to scream in fright before it detonated, tearing them apart. I had the foresight to cover my ears before the bang went off. It still made them ring.

'note to self. Get earplugs.' I thought

The bang echoed throughout the corridors. I wouldn't be surprised if every ork in the entire facility new of our presence.

"Let's move!" Titus commanded. Taking large strides into the heart of the facility. Firing pot shots at every ork he came across, most nailing them in the head killing them instantly. Those that were hit in the body found themselves knocked to the floor where one of the others finished them off. They were working in an almost mechanical state.

Me however? Well I was doing my bit. Most of my attention was on watching our backs, more than once I had spotted a few armed orks running at us from behind. It took me half a dozen shots to fell each however, as I couldn't afford to stop causing my gun to bounce around.

Soon I had depleted an entire power cell. I would of tried to ration what I had but it wouldn't last. Not with this many orks.

There was something else that surprised me however, and that was Titus. Whenever we had a moment of calm he would exchange a few words with me. It was strange.

"So how did you end up on this planet. I can't imagine a boy of your age being part of a cadian regiment." While his question was hard to answer it was nice to see something other than the cold battle hardened soldier I usually saw.

I could hardly tell him the truth however. "I was recently reassigned. A large portion of my old regiment was wiped out, in the end it was broken apart and reabsorbed into others, It was a mess however and I ended up being dumped here with the cadian not long before the attack." A complete lie. But it seemed to satisfy him.

"And what of your psyker abilities? From what I have seen you possess remarkable control and yet you are unsanctioned. Using your powers as much as you have would also invite unwanted entities in the warp, yet you have shown no symptoms except exhaustion. In fact your seem to only use energy stored within your body?"

For that I had to think harder. Was I really different even among psykers? From what he was saying that was a good thing. The thought of other worldly beings attacking my mind did not sound appealing.

I decided it was better to be honest, I managed to convince him with my last answer but I don't want to push my luck.

"I have no idea. I only found out that I was a psyker less than a week ago. As for my control, all I can say is that I concentrate on the effect I want. But is it really that impressive. I overpower almost all of my attacks and anything more than a rooms width and I'm lucky to hit anything."

He didn't respond, I was about to question why before I saw where we were.

Right in front of use was yet another solid door. The old space marine manned the panel at the side as the third watched our backs. Both me and Titus raised our weapons as the door creaked open. No orks inside.

As soon as the gap was a few metres wide we rushed in. The other two shortly behind us. They closed the door after they went through.

Inside was an armoury of sorts. Weapons lined the walls in crates. But what intrigued me was what was on the table on the centre of the room.

Large bottle like devices were lying there, except they were the size of my head and made of thick metal.

"Melta charges." Breathed the old marine, " A few of these in the right place and we could bring the entire facility down."

"We could place one of them on one of the gun shells." Suggested the young marine.

"You do your chapter proud."

"Luke. There are some more weapons on the walls on here, your lasgun is reaching the end of its usefulness."

I nodded in confirmation, my lasgun was on its last cell. Quickly I scanned the walls. there was one weapon that caught my eye. One that I had seen earlier.

I picked up off the wall and slung its strap over my shoulder. The device was fairly heavy. A few kilos more than my lasgun. I could almost feel its strength though as I turned it on. Blue coils busting into life and emitting a faint hum. Oh yes. This would do nicely.

 _Thanks guys for sticking with me this chapter, don't forget to follow, favourite to keep up with new chapters and comment your suggestions. Any and all will be greatly appreciated._

 _I don't know when the next chapter will be done but I would like to say I can get it done this month. I am still at school. See ya then CurseofGladstone out._


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13- Down she falls

 _And here we are with another chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it. Don't forget to favourite follow and comment for more content. Ideas help me write._

From beyond the door I could hear the sound of orks charging down the corridors. I wouldn't be surprised if half the facility was on its way. The longer we spent waiting the harder this would be. Already there could be dozens in that corridor.

"As soon as I open the door prepare to fire. Leandros take the lead. Luke, do what you can." Said Titus.

Without waiting for a response he thumbed the controls on the side of the door. Slowly it rumbled open. Streaks of light broke through the gap and as it got wider and wider more orks could be seen. As soon as the gap was about a foot wide, Leandros began to fire at the orks. A few times I saw sparks glance off of his armour. Once or twice he took a direct hit. But even then it only cracked the surface. Was it ceramic? Metal would have just dented.

I shook my head. Now was not the time to ponder on what his armour was made of. I had more pressing concerns.

By now the gap was about three feet wide and I could clearly see through. Already there were several orks lying dead on the ground. But there were many more coming. I had to try and take them out before they build up even more.

Raising my plasma gun I lined up the sights. Then I pulled the trigger. A blue flash of ionized gas shot from its barrel. The bolt streaked towards the closest ork, striking it directly in the chest and blasting a head sized hole through it. The ground behind glowing yellow hot from the left over energy.

its power was comparable to my own attacks, If slightly less concentrated. It would be some time before I had any real advantage over my physical counterpart. Not that I was complaining. Every ork I fell with this was one I didn't have to use my powers on. It gave me a chance to recover.

Making use of the guns immense power I started taking pot shots at the orks in cover. Double tapping the trigger so the first shot would destroy its cover, the next end its life.

There was another useful thing about the gun too. It overheats. Usually that would be extremely dangerous. And I can easily see it blowing if used to frequently. However It was all too easy for me to counter the symptoms. By absorbing the excess heat I could keep it within its safe operating levels. I still took breaks between shots as I did so however. The risk was still a concern.

One sickly bolt left the end as I took my next shot. It was only a fraction the power of the others. Out of power, I realised. Quickly I took out the clip and pushed in a new one. I had only used about 20 shots. I would have to be more careful.

It wasn't without its merits however. As between the four of us we were able to make headway through the orks. Their bodies strewn by the dozens on the ground. The orks however didn't seem to care. They carried on charging us blindly. Those with guns were prioritised and of those that got close, all were cut down by Titus' combat knife.

"sqqquuueeiiii." What the hell was that. It was like a squeal from a wounded animal.

"Incoming!" Yelled The grey haired marine.

A two legged slug like creature was charging along the corridor from behind the orks. Worse still several sticks of explosives were strapped to its back. A suicide bomb? Regardless I didn't have time to think, the closer it got the worse it would be. I took aim at it but before I could it detonated. I instinctively raised my arms in a vain attempt to protect my face. Despite being almost forty feet away the blast still shook me. My arm erupted in pain. Looking down I could see that shrapnel has shredded my clothing and had drawn blood. Luckily I don't think they hit an artery but I wouldn't be surprised if my muscles had been cut. That was gunna be a bitch later on.

"Keep your guard up, there could be more." Said Titus. He had sheathed his knife in favour of rearming himself with his boltgun.

Several more squeals follow and like before several of them came onto view. They were pretty spaced out. Enough that a single shot wouldn't' cause a chain reaction. It didn't matter though. I dropped to once knee and fired several shots at them. One hitting directly, causing it to detonate. This time it was far enough away that I wasn't harmed. The next shot landed directly in front of the other. Melting and boiling the ground. The dumb thing tried to stop but was quickly subdued by the molten ground. It too detonated a few seconds later. I sighed and shakily rose to my feet.

Just how long would this carry on for? It didn't matter. I had to take out this gun. John, mark, Wendy, Alice, the Commander... As well as the few hundred other lefts at base. They needed this.

Finally we reached what I assume was the gun room. At the other side of the room I could see a large chain rising up. Attached to it every ten or so metres was a massive two metre wide shell and directly in front of us a conveyer belt rose from the ground and towards it. Looking down I could see the shape of a shell.

Titus pushed a button on the control panel in front of us. The shell below began to rapidly rise.

"There." Said Titus. "I will place the charge on that shell."

'Well you were the one with the Melta charge' I thought.

He took the charge and firmly planted it on the surface of the shell where it stuck. I assume it was magnetic or something.

Then he did something very impressive. He began to push the shell rapidly towards the conveyer belt. That thing must have weighted a good twenty tons or more. I could hear the grinding of metal on metal as it painfully slid. How strong was this guy?

As he reached the end the shell tipped slightly before attaching itself onto the belt.

"With luck the orks will feed it right into the gun." Said the grey haired marine 'I really need to learn his name.' I thought.

"We cannot rely on luck for this Sidonus." 'Well that was convenient' "We follow the shell up and make sure it reaches its destination."

Well shit...

Ten minutes or fighting through ork infested corridors later and we finally managed to reach the top. The others had managed save some of their ammo somehow, but me? Last clip. Last bloody clip. I swear for all the benefits of a plasma gun, ammo capacity was not one of them.

From leeching the excess energy I had managed to recover a good deal of my strength. Thankfully this also helped dull the pain in my arm. Is worst came to worst I should be able to fire maybe half a dozen shots without passing out. It was best that I saved them though.

The walls around my shook as the planetary defence gun fired another shot. We were getting close. Unfortunately that also meant we were getting closer to the Melta charge which from my impression was a micro nuke... Why didn't we put it on from up there...

Finally we reached the gun room. Low and behold the shell had been taken out... Huh , the orks weren't as dumb as usual.

"There's our shell, the orks have pulled it out of sequence." Said Sidonus.

"Then we put It back." Replied Titus.

Oh great, stuck in another open room with little cover. Please let this be quick.

"Leandros. Put the shell back into that loader. We will cover you." Leandros quickly did as he was ordered. "Luke take cover behind the crates. " I was happy to oblige.

Slowly Leandros began to push the shell back towards the chain. The grinding of metal on metal drowned my ears. I wouldn't be surprised if I was deaf after this. It was loud enough to attract the orks at least. I learned that rather quickly.

"Fire!" Yelled Titus as the first orks came into view. He wasted no time in using his bolter to unload onto them. He was no longer taking his usual quick bursts. Now he was spraying whole volleys of accurate fire into small crowds of orks. The occasional grenade too. I had to make sure to cover my ears when that happened.

Not wanting to be killed I too began to fire. Not that It was doing much good. For every ork I cut down another took its place. They just seemed endless. And soon I was out... the final shot spluttering uselessly against the orks barricade, melting only a small part of it. I discarded the gun. No use carrying dead weight.

Right now I had two options to fight. My powers, or the as of yet unused sword the commander gave me. Until now I had had little reason to use it. A gun is after all a far more effective weapon in combat than a sword. Right now however there were little orks around. It was better to save my powers for when the situation is more dire.

"Damn it." I swore and drew the blade as another ork came closer. Thankfully it seemed to only use a melee weapon. It swung a heavy sideways blow as I rolled underneath. Instantly I went into a crouching position and with all my strength swung left. Taking the orks leg off at the knee. It collapsed to the ground beside me and I wasted no time stabbing through its neck.

Shockingly its head still moved even though its spinal cord was severed. It still tried to roar at me but no sound came out. I quickly finished it off with a stab through the eye.

"And off it goes" Said Leandros as the shell tipped onto the rack.

"We would be better off seeing this fortress detonate from the outside." Side Sidonus.

"Agreed" Finished Titus. " Find an exit." He began sprinting down the nearest corridor towards what I hoped was daylight.

Crap. I turned and sprinted with everything I had along with the others. Fuelling my limbs with as much energy as I dared. My muscles strained and quivered from the effort, even then I could barely keep pace with the dedicated marines.

Behind me I could hear explosions going off. I daren't look back.

Thankfully It didn't take long to reach the outside. It was only then that I stuck a glance behind my shoulder to see what was happening. The gun turret collapsed into the facility and detonated. Blowing chunks everywhere. It was truly dead.

"The guardsman will get their supplies now." Said Sidonus. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Titus' Communicator went off. "Captain Titus? You are a man of your word my lord, thank you."

"What is your situation lieutenant?" He replied.

"We're gathering our wounded and heading to the Andris Habitation Block to establish an outpost. With the cannon down our support craft will land there."

"Very well." Titus snuck a glance at me before continuing. "My battle brothers and I must secure any operational warlord-class Titans before the orks can loot them. One other thing. We will continue to watch over Luke. He has been surprisingly useful. He may be of further use to use."

"Understood." She finished.

I would never get a rest would I? At least I managed to prove me worth. For now I can live. Captain Titus has been surprisingly lax with me. For that I am thankful, yet I can't help but wish I was back with my squad. I hope the others are doing okay. With the gun down things should be a little easier for them.

 _Thank you for reading another of my chapters and thank you to all those that have followed , favourited or commented on this story. I hope you enjoyed . Don't forget to leave suggestions in the comments. Not sure when I will next upload but I have got the holidays coming soon so hopefully by the end of the year. See ya soon. CurseofGladstone out_


	14. Chapter 14:Titans

_Hi guys just a quick update to the story here. I was in a productive mood today so I pumped this out. Hope you guys enjoy. If you do don't forget to favourite, follow and comment to let me know you are enjoying this story. On to the story._

Chapter 14 Titans

'what the hell are Titans' I pondered. From the sound of it they were something extremely important. Especially if the space marines were sent to secure them.

I considered asking Titus before thinking better of it. I would see for myself in due time.

With little time to rest we were once again on the move. The three marines ploughing on almost leaving me behind. To be fair that might have something to with me being distracted by the scenery. All the structures I have seen so far have a rugged and militaristic appearance to them and yet I couldn't help but look in awe at an enormous bridge in the distance. Even from several miles away it towered over us. My view of where it reached was blocked by the tall crates...

I was getting distracted. Already the marines had put a good ten metres between me and them and I raced to catch up, panting as I did so. Can't we break for FIVE MINUTES! I didn't know what use I was going to be from now on. I had lost my gun... again and now all I had to fight with were my mostly restored powers and an effective but short range, sword.

Luckily the number of orks ahead were minimal and thankfully it seemed that few of them possessed ranged weapons. It still meant close combat though which, against orks? Best to be avoided.

Leandros stopped once he had gone down the first slope and aimed up his bolter, presumably to take out the priority targets before they realised we were here. I paid him no attention though as I charged down the final slope drawing my sword as I went. The blade was pretty solid. I had very little give in it yet was remarkably sturdy. Hopefully that would mean it kept its edge. it would be getting a lot of use from now on. A blunt weapon was the last thing I wanted

Holding the sword in my left hand I swung it horizontally towards the first micro ork within reach, its head severed from its body. I lowered my body and picked up its knife with my right hand before bringing my blade for a backwards stroke, knocking away a second beast that had jumped at me. It fell to the ground annoyed but uninjured. Taking my chance I jumped towards it, my sword knocking away its feeble attempt to block while simultaneously plunging my knife into its chest. It thrashed for a moment with a panicked look before going still. I stopped for a moment to breath before my mind caught up to what I had just seen.

My heard pounded, my hands shook. It was one thing killing the large orks in combat or with a gun. They were mindless beasts but... I looked back down to the dead thing. It had feared for its life... I felt sick. I may be a solider now. I may have killed countless times before but this was the first time I really thought about what I had done. I still had the mentality of a teenager. Not the best thing to have on the battlefield.

Thankfully I was drawn out of my haze by the roar of another ork. This one wielding a large axe. I barely managed to raise my arms to block before the axe hit, sending my off my feet and into a crate. the knife and sword dropped from my hands as I hit the ground. With no time to pick them up I brought my hands together and fired a quick pulse. The feeble attack struck the ork in its chest and sent it stumbling onto the ground. Downed but not dead. Shakily it rose to its feet just as I had charged a second quick pulse impacting its shoulder, then a third finally striking its head and finishing it off. I needed to remember to charge them for longer.

Shaking off my haze and sickness I got back into my feet and reclaimed my weapons. My right hand was bleeding slightly from where the poorly made knife had been torn. Luckily it wasn't too deep. I would have to remember to get gloves next time I got back to base. I took a moment to collect myself before looking to the others.

By now the marines had made it half way across the area and were leaving me behind. A trail of dead orks behind them. I raced to catch up just managing to do so as they reached the doors of yet another armoured structure. I discarded the knife as I went. It wasn't a good idea to be seen holding an ork weapon.

Titus wasted no time in opening the door and we quickly went in. It was easy to tell we were behind ork lines. Their banners littered every other wall. I had better be on my guard. A single stray shot could take me out. It was a miracle I hadn't been killed yet ork aim leaves a lot to be desired. For them at least.

We raced up the stairs before briefly stopping be a window. It overlooked the bridge from before, this time with much greater clarity. I could see where it stretched to. A hundred metres wide and miles long. It was amazing.

"Now, that bridge is a testament to the might of the imperium." Said Sidonus, an impressed look on his face.

"The adeptus mechanicus are masterful architects." Agreed Leandros.

"Their work outlived all of them." Finished Titus a solemn look on his face

'Well that got pretty sentimental.' I thought. It was nice for a moment. All of us reflecting on the astounding works of the imperium, a moment our thought were on something other than battle. But it wasn't to last. But that inlaid another concern. The orks were destroying everything with their looting. I doubt such a thing would be kept under their rule.

Wordlessly we moved on. Making our way forward until the room opened up into a massive hanger. In the distance I could make out a massive machine in the tracks. Its engine roared as it started to move. Very, very slowly it accelerated.

"What in Guilliman's name is that?" Gasped Leandros.

"Nothing good" Replied Sidonus, concerned.

"Did the lieutenant not say these tracks went to the complex housing the Titans?"

"That thing is a battering ram." Said Sidonus.

'Meant to break down the doors protecting the facility... ' I realised. 'We have to stop it. But It could also be our ride over there.

"How do we stop it?" I said.

"First we have to get on board. And fast."

It was a race against time as we sprinted along the sidewalk. We didn't stop even as the orks ran to engage us. Swiftly they were cut down by the three space marines bolters. This was too important to justify a loss in time for a slight saving of ammo, they only cut down those that got too close, body slamming them away if they had too. Because of this rush several of the orks attacks were not entirely deflected, creating grooves in their shoulder plates.

I had sheathed my sword in favour of using plasma shots now, cutting down any ork that snuck up behind us. Thankfully there weren't many or else I would have been quickly overwhelmed.

The number of crates around us built up as we got closer to the ram, obscuring our view. I made sure to stay close to the marines.

An ork ran out from behind one of the containers, swinging at me. I ducked underneath the blade before placing me hand on its chest, a quick pulse vaporised it.

This wasn't a good idea. We had too many blind spots. It might be better to get on top...

"Squuuiiii" 'On second thoughts it might be better to run.' I thought as the unmistakable sounds of the suicide runners got closer.

Thankfully Titus was ready this time and cut the down the instant they came into view, shrapnel spraying his armour but only scratching the paint off. Several more came but they too were cut down. He wasn't going to make the same mistake as last time.

Without warning bullets sprayed the ground by my feet as an ork popped up behind us. I spun around and raised my arms to return fire before stumbling back, my right arm erupting in pain. A bullet had pierced through my bicep, cutting through some of the muscle and barely missing the artery. I screamed in pain and charged a shot with just my left hand, the shot went low and took out the orks leg before it was finished off by Leandros. He looked at me with contempt. I saw the look in his eyes. Weakness they screamed at me. He sneered before continuing with the others.

Biting my lip to stop my screams I brought my left hand onto my right arm, right where the damage was. I concentrated my energy through my arm and hand. The heat was concentrated to a pinhead as I placed it to the wound. Smoke rose from the dripping blood before it slowly dried and congealed I hissed in pain, so this is what a burn felt like. This was the first time I had intentionally tried to 'harm' myself with my powers and even then it barely affected the blood outside my veins. It was a temporary fix. It may have stopped the bleeding but only just. I had no doubt it would become infected and now my arm hung uselessly.

Quickly I tore off part of my shirt and used it to try and patch the wound. It was fast but messy. It would have to do. There was no time to make a sling either.

Finally we reached the end of the platform. It reached above the ram and over to the other side. We stopped by the edge. Peering over I could see that it was at least a five metre drop. This was gunna hurt. The others jumped over without a care in the world, I instantly followed. Focusing past the pain and flowing a little strength into my legs. I still hit the ground hard. My legs giving way and my back slamming into the ground, knocking the wind out of me and causing my arm to burst in pain, drops of blood leaked out into the bandage.

But at least we were onboard Just in time too. I could feel the train accelerating much more quickly beneath my feet.

"Now to stop this ram!" Yelled Titus over the rushing winds. "Time till impact?"

"No more than six minutes," replied Sidonus.

"Time enough."

Time enough for them maybe but I was battered and wounded. I feared I wouldn't make it...

 _Well hope you enjoyed the chapter. Luke is in a tough spot now but maybe there is something that can help him?_

 _Will be posting again in a few weeks. See ya then. CurseofGladstone out._


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